IC-NRLF 


77M 


20  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

we  do  pull  down  the  old  home,  and  we  often  do,  and 
Americans  do  so  probably  oftener  than  they  ought, 
and  in  its  place  erect  an  edifice  constructed  on  better 
principles,  we  find,  in  the  increased  comfort  which  fol 
lows,  a  justification  of  the  proceeding,  and  a  compen 
sation  for  all  the  trouble  and  expense  it  has  cost  us. 

There  has  grown  up  within  our  own  century  a 
branch  of  systematic  inquiry,  which  in  recent  years 
has  been  prosecuted  with  a  high  degree  of  activity, 
under  the  name  of  "  social  science.7'  This  inquiry  com 
prehends  in  its  scope  every  problem  interesting  to 
human  society,  political,  educational,  moral,  econom 
ical,  commercial,  statistical,  and  sanitary  ;  its  aim 
being  not  merely  the  enlargement  of  knowledge  for 
its  own  sake,  but  the  practical  amelioration  of  the 
condition  of  man.  In  an  investigation  so  comprehen 
sive,  the  subject  of  weights,  measures  and  coins,  the 
instruments  by  means  of  which  the  values  of  all 
objects  which  make  up  the  wealth  of  nations  must  be 
measured,  and  by  means  of  which  also  the  exchanges 
of  commodities  which  constitute  the  world's  commerce 
must  be  effected,  could  not  escape  attention.  An 
earnest  movement  has  accordingly  been  going  on  in 
our  time  which,  during  the  past  twenty  years,  has 
been  pressed  with  especial  urgency,  having  for  its 
object  to  remove  the  impediments  to  freedom  and 
facility  of  commercial  intercourse  between  nations,  and 
the  obstacles  to  the  intelligent  understanding,  on  the 
part  of  individuals,  of  the  material  condition  of  the 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  21 

world  and  the  progress  of  contemporaneous  history, 
which  arise  from  the  diversity  and  discordance  of 
existing  metrological  systems.  At  a  former  meeting 
of  this  convocation,  an  ardent  friend  of  the  movement 
here  spoken  of,  a  gentleman  who  was  at  that  time  a 
member  of  our  national  legislature,  addressed  you  on 
this  subject,  and  recommended  it  earnestly  to  your 
favorable  consideration.  The  result  was  disappointing. 
The  movement  failed  to  command  from  you  the  antici 
pated  sympathy  ;  and  in  approaching  the  same  subject 
to-day,  I  feel  how  heavy  is  the  task  of  one  who  at 
tempts  to  plead  before  you  a  cause  in  which  so  able, 
so  zealous,  and  so  eloquent  an  advocate  has  failed. 

There  is  something  in  the  very  fact  that  I  venture 
to  address  you  upon  a  subject  which  has  occupied  the 
attention  of  your  learned  body  now  for  several  years, 
which  has  been  regularly  referred  to  a  committee  of 
able  and  distinguished  men  selected  from  your  num 
ber,  which  has  been  maturely  considered  and  elabo 
rately  reported  on  by  them,  and  has  at  length,  after 
full  opportunity  for  discussion  and  comparison  of 
views,  been  finally  disposed  of  by  the  adoption  and 
publication  of  their  report,  which  convicts  me,  in 
appearance  at  least,  of  presumption,  and  which  is  not 
likely  to  win  me  your  favor  in  advance.  It  is,  there 
fore,  due  to  myself  to  say,  that  in  asking  your  indul 
gence  while  I  recall  your  attention  for  a  few  moments 
to  a  subject  which  has  lost  its  novelty  for  you,  I  am 
acting  under  instructions  from  a  body  whose  authority 


Universitwof  California. 


THr     x  OF 


F  R 


LIE  B 


Tr-  '  .  tory  ftnti  Law  in  Columbia  College, 

= 


THK  GIFT  OF 

ICHAEL     REESE 
tr^. 


i  s  r  3 . 


THE 


METKIC    SYSTEM 


OF 


WEIGHTS  AND  MEASURES. 


THE 


METRIC   SYSTEM 


WEIGHTS  AND  MEASURES; 


AN  ADDRESS  DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  CONVOCATION  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK, 

AT  ALBANY,  AUGUST  1,  1871 ; 


BY  FREDERICK  A.  P.  BARNARD,  S.  T.  D.,  LL.  D., 

President  of  Columbia  College,  New  TorJc  City  ; 

MEMBER  OF  THE  NATIONAL  ACADEMY  OP  SCIENCES;  AND  OF  THE  AMERICAN   PHILOSOPHICAL  SOCIETY, 

PHILADELPHIA ;  ASSOCIATE  MEMBER  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ACADEMY  OF  ARTS  AND  SCIENCES, 

BOSTON ;    CORRESPONDING  MEMBER  OF  THE  ROYAL  SOCIETY  OF 

SCIENCES  OF  LIEGE,   BELGIUM,  AC.,  AC. 


REVISED    EDITION. 

PRINTED  BY  ORDER  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES  OF  COLUMBIA  COLLEGE. 


„  * 

NEW    YORK: 

1872. 

N^     ^ 

California- 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Preface 3 

Origin  and  Nature  of  the  Metric  System 7 

ADDBESS,  Part  I — Kecent  Progress  of  Metrological  Reform 17 

"        Part  II — Objections  to  the  Metric  System  considered 71 

APPENDIX  A  —On  the  Unification  of  Moneys 117 

"         "      Notes  Supplementary  : 

Note  1— Effect  upon  existing  Contracts  of  a  Change  in 

the  Legal  Weight  of  Coins 151 

Note  2 — The  new  System  of  Coinage  of  the  Japanese 

Empire 152 

APPENDIX  B — Note  1 — On  Capacity  Measures  and  the  Weight  of  a  given 

Volume  of  Water 153 

"         "     Note  2 — On  EATER'S  determination   of    the   Weight  of  a 

Cubic  Inch  of  Water 167 

APPENDIX  C— On  the  Legislation  of  Great  Britain  and  of  British  India  in 

regard  to  the  Metric  System 179 

APPENDIX  D— On  the  Extent  to   which  the  Metric  System  has  been 

already  adopted 191 


PREFACE. 


ON  the  eighth  day  of  August,  1866,  the  Convocation  of  the 
University  of  the  State  of  New  York,  being  then  in  session  at 
Albany,  was  addressed  by  the  Hon.  JOHN  A.  KASSON,  a  mem 
ber  of  the  House  of  Kepresentatives  of  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  from  Iowa,  and  Chairman  of  a  Committee  of 
that  body  appointed  to  consider  the  possibility  of  securing  a 
uniform  system  of  Coinage,  Weights  and  Measures  for  all 
nations.  Congress  had  then  recently  (July  27th,  1866), 
passed  an  act  legalizing  the  use  of  the  metrological  system 
known  as  "The  Metric  System  of  Weights  and  Measures," 
in  all  business  transactions  in  the  United  States;  and,  two 
years  earlier,  a  similar  act  had  passed  the  British  Parlia 
ment.  It  was  known  that  the  system  had  met  with  large 
acceptance  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  and  also  in  the 
greater  portion  of  the  American  continent  south  of  our  own 
territory;  and  it  was  also  known  that  the  use  of  this  sys 
tem  was  becoming  more  extended  every  year. 

The  aim  and  hope  of  Mr.  KASSON  had  been  that  he  might 
enlist  the  large  body  of  enlightened  educators  forming  the 
University  Convocation,  in  an  active  effort  to  advance  the 
cause  of  metrological  reform  in  our  country,  by  diffusing 
among  the  people  information  in  regard  to  the  Metric  Sys 
tem  ;  by  pointing  out  the  merits  of  this  system ;  and  by  meet 
ing  the  objections  with  which  the  proposition  to  naturalize  it 


4  PREFACE. 

here,  like  every  other  threatened  innovation  upon  established 
usages,  however  in  its  own  nature  desirable  or  prospectively 
beneficent,  is  sure  to  be  encountered.  And  the  appearances 
at  the  time  were  certainly  favorable  to  the  fulfilment  of  this 
hope;  for  the  address  of  the  honorable  gentleman  was  re 
ceived  with  evident  marks  of  approval. 

A  committee  was  accordingly  appointed,  charged  with  the 
duty  of  reporting  on  the  subject  to  the  Convocation  at  a 
future  meeting.  This  committee  consisted  of  the  Hon.  JOHN 
Y.  L.  PRUYN,  LL.D.  (Chancellor  of  the  University),  CHARLES 
DAVIES,  LL.D,,  Professor  Emeritus  of  the  Higher  Mathe 
matics  in  Columbia  College,  and  ROBERT  S.  HALE,  LL.D., 
one  of  the  Regents  of  the  University.  Prof.  DAVIES,  who 
was  charged  with  the  preparation  of  the  report,  states  that 
it  originally  "  seemed  to  be  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the 
committee  that  a  report  would  be  made  favorable  to  the  in 
troduction  of  the  [metric]  system  into  general  use ;"  but  that 
reflection  and  inquiry  led  to  a  modification  of  views,  espe 
cially  on  his  own  part ;  and  that  the  conclusion  was  reached 
that  the  Convocation  should  not  "  commit  itself  hastily  to 
the  great  and  radical  changes  which  the  introduction  of  the 
metric  system  would  occasion."  It  was  not,  therefore,  until 
after  three  years  of  deliberation,  that  the  committee  present 
ed  their  report ;  and  the  report  then  made,  which  is  said  to 
have  been  partial,  was  apparently  oral. 

This  committee  was  thereupon  discharged,  and  a  new  one 
appointed,  consisting  of  Prof.  DAVIES,  Regent  HALE,  and  Prof. 
JAMES  B.  THOMSON,  LL.D.  It  is  stated  in  the  preface  to  the 
final  report,  that  Prof.  THOMSON  did  not  act  with  the  com 
mittee.  The  report  of  this  reconstructed  committee  was 
presented  to  the  Convocation  at  the  session  of  August,  1870. 
It  consisted  mainly  in  an  argument  to  demonstrate  the  inex 
pediency  and  impracticability  of  introducing  the  Metric 


PREFACE.  5 

System  of  Weights  and  Measures  into  the  United  States. 
By  order  of  the  Convocation  this  report  was  published  and 
extensively  circulated. 

The  Trustees  and  Faculty  of  the  College  with  which  the 
chairman  of  the  Committee  held  formerly  an  official,  and 
holds  still  an  honorary,  connection,  have  for  some  years  been 
upon  the  record  as  advocates  of  legislation  by  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  favorable  to  the  unification  of  the 
Moneys,  Weights  and  Measures  of  the  world.  In  their  view, 
the  object  desired,  so  far  as  it  regards  Weights  and  Measures, 
is  most  likely  to  be  secured  through  the  universal  acceptance 
of  a  rnetrological  system  which  is  already  generally  received ; 
and  that  is  the  Metric  System.  To  them  it  appeared  that 
the  publication  of  a  report  prepared  by  a  geatleman  in  nom 
inal  connection  with  them,  maintaining  an  opposite  opinion, 
was  likely  to  produce  an  erroneous  impression  in  the  public 
mind  in  regard  to  their  own  position.  At  a  meeting  there 
fore  of  the  Trustees,  held  on  the  first  day  of  May,  1871, 
a  resolution  was  adopted,  on  motion  of  the  Hon.  SAMUEL 
BLATCHFORD,  LL.D.,  Judge  of  the  United  States  District  Court 
for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York,  requesting  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  College  to  attend  the  meeting  of  the  Convocation 
to  be  held  in  the  August  next  ensuing,  and  to  state  to  that 
body  how  far  the  views  set  forth  in  the  report  of  the  commit 
tee  above  referred  to  are  in  harmony  with  those  entertained 
by  the  Faculty  of  the  College. 

It  was  in  obedience  to  this  resolution  that  the  address 
contained  in  the  following  pages  was  prepared.  The  address 
was  listened  to  with  evidently  interested  attention  by  the 
Convocation;  and,  by  the  courtesy  of  the  Regents  of  the  Uni 
versity,  it  was  immediately  published,  in  advance  of  the  report 
of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Convocation,  in  pamphlet  form. 
Some  copies  of  this  publication  having  been  laid  before  the 


6  PREFACE. 

Trustees  of  Columbia  College  at  a  meeting  held  on  the  second 
day  of  October,  1871,  it  was,  on  motion  of  Judge  BLATCHFORD, 
resolved,  that  a  revised  edition  of  one  thousand  copies  be 
printed  for  general  circulation.  In  the  present  edition,  is 
sued  in  conformity  with  this  order,  some  slight  modifications 
have  been  made  in  the  original  text ;  and  some  additional 
information  presumedly  of  interest  has  been  appended  in  the 
form  of  notes. 


ORIGIN  AND  NATURE 


OF   THE 


METRIC  SYSTEM  OF  WEIGHTS  AND  MEASURES. 


No  cause,  since  the  earliest  organization  of  civilized 
society,  has  contributed  more  largely  to  embarrass  business 
transactions  among  men,  especially  by  interfering  with  the 
facility  of  commercial  exchanges  between  different  countries, 
or  between  different  provinces,  cities,  or  even  individual  citi 
zens  of  the  same  country,  than  the  endless  diversity  of  in 
strumentalities  employed  for  the  purpose  of  determining  the 
quantities  of  exchangeable  commodities.  For  the  incon 
venience  and  confusion  resulting  from  this  cause,  but  one 
effectual  remedy  can  possibly  be  suggested ;  and  that  is  the 
general  adoption  throughout  the  world  of  one  common  sys 
tem  of  weights  and  measures.  Until  nearly  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  nevertheless,  no  movement  appears  to 
have  been  anywhere  made,  looking  to  the  immediate  or  pro 
spective  application  of  this  remedy.  It  was  one  of  the  pro 
jects  entertained  by  the  Constituent  Assembly  of  France,  at  a 
time  when  the  revolution  had  not  yet  passed  into  that  san 
guinary  phase  which  but  too  soon  succeeded,  to  engage  the 
nations  of  Europe  in  a  united  effort  to  create,  for  the  com 
mon  use  of  all,  a  new  metrological  system,  founded  upon 
standards  determined  with  scientific  accuracy,  and  con- 


8  ORIGIN    AND    NATURE    OF    THE 

structed  in  its  details  according  to  a  scientific  method.  Nor, 
amid  all  the  succeeding  excitements  attendant  on  the  down 
fall  of  the  monarchy,  and  the  inauguration  of  the  republic 
and  the  "  Terror,5'  was  this  important  object  ever  lost  sight 
of  by  the  men  who  held  successively  in  their  hands  the  des 
tinies  of  France.  And  though  the  convulsions  which,  for 
many  successive  years  during  that  stormy  period,  agitated 
the  continent  of  Europe,  prevented  the  participation  of  all 
the  nations  in  the  prosecution  of  this  great  and  beneficent 
work,  still  the  work  itself  was  prosecuted,  though  with  some 
interruptions,  to  a  satisfactory  completion ;  and  the  result  is 
seen  to  day  in  the  Metric  System  of  Weights  and  Measures ; 
a  system  which,  after  the  lapse  of  only  three  quarters  of  a 
century,  has  been  adopted  for  use  by  more  than  half  the  in 
habitants  of  the  civilized  and  Christian  world. 

The  principles  according  to  which  this  system  has  been 
constructed  are  set  forth  in  the  following  statement, 
adopted  from  the  report  on  the  subject  made  by  the  Honor 
able  JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS,  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United 
States,  to  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Sixteenth 
Congress,  under  date  of  February  22d,  1821. 

1.  That  all  weights  and  measures  should  be  reduced  to 
one  uniform  standard  of  linear  measure, 

2.  That  this  standard  should  be  an  aliquot  part  of  the  cir 
cumference  of  the  globe. 

3.  That  the  unit  of  linear  measure,  applied  to  matter  in 
its  three  modes  of  extension,  length,  breadth,  and  thickness, 
should  be  the  standard  of  all  measures  of  length,  surface, 
and  solidity. 

4.  That  the  cubic  contents  of  the  linear  measure,  in  dis 
tilled  water,  at  the  temperature  of  its  greatest  contraction, 


METRIC    SYSTEM    OF    WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  9 

should  furnish  at  once  the  standard  weight  and  measure  of 
capacity. 

5.  That  for  everything  susceptible  of  being  measured  or 
weighed,  there  should  be  only  one  measure  of  length,  one 
weight,  one  measure  of  contents,  with  their  multiples  and 
subdivisions  exclusively  in  decimal  proportions. 

6.  That  the  principle  of  decimal  division,  and  a  propor 
tion  to  the  linear  standard,  should  be  annexed  to  the  coins 
of  gold,  silver,  and  copper,  to  the  moneys  of  account,  to  the 
division  of  time,  to  the  barometer  and  thermometer,  to  the 
plummet  and  log-lines  of  the  sea,  to  the  geography  of  the 
earth  and  the  astronomy  of  the  skies ;  and,  finally,  to  every 
thing  in  human  existence   susceptible  of  comparative  esti 
mation  by  weight  or  measure. 

7.  That  the  whole  system  should  be  equally  suitable  to 
the  use  of  all  mankind. 

8.  That  every  weight  and  every  measure  should  be  desig 
nated  by   an  appropriate,    significant,   characteristic  name, 
applied  exclusively  to  itself. 

The  following  is  the  succinct  account  given  by  Mr.  ADAMS, 
of  the  early  history  of  the  movement  in  which  the  Metric 
System  had  its  origin  : 

"  In  the  year  1790,  the  Prince  de  Talleyrand,  then  Bishop 
of  Autun,  distributed  among  the  members  of  the  Constitu 
ent  Assembly  of  France,  a  proposal,  founded  upon  the 
excessive  diversity  and  confusion  of  .the  weights  and  meas 
ures  then  prevailing  all  over  that  country,  for  the  reforma 
tion  of  the  system,  or,  rather,  for  the  foundation  of  a  new 
one,  upon  the  principle  of  a  single  and  universal  standard. 
After  referring  to  the  two  objects  which  had  previously  been 


10  ORIGIN    AND    NATURE    OF    THE 

suggested  by  Huyghens  and  Picard—  the  pendulum,  and  the 
proportional  part  of  the  circumference  of  the  earth — he 
concluded  by  giving  the  preference  to  the  former,  and  pre 
sented  the  project  of  a  decree.  First,  that  exact  copies  of 
all  the  different  weights  and  elementary  measures  used  in 
every  town  of  France,  should  be  obtained  and  sent  to  Paris. 
Secondly,  that  the  National  Assembly  should  write  a  letter 
to  the  British  Parliament,  requesting  their  concurrence  with 
France  in  the  adoption  of  a  natural  standard  for  weights 
and  measures ;  for  which  purpose,  Commissioners,  in  equal 
numbers  from  the  French  Academy  of  Sciences,  and  the 
British  Royal  Society,  chosen  by  those  learned  bodies  re 
spectively,  should  meet  at  the  most  suitable  place,  and 
ascertain  the  length  of  the  pendulum  at  the  forty-fifth  degree 
of  latitude,  and  from  it  an  invariable  standard  for  all  measures 
and  weights.  Thirdly,  that,  after  the  accomplishment,  with 
all  due  solemnity,  of  this  operation,  the  French  Academy  of 
Sciences  should  fix  with  precision  the  tables  of  proportion 
between  the  new  standards,  and  the  weights  and  measures 
previously  used  in  the  various  parts  of  France  ;  and  that 
every  town  should  be  supplied  with  exact  copies  of  the  new 
standards,  and  with  tables  of  comparison  between  them  and 
those  of  which  they  were  to  supply  the  place. )  This  decree, 
somewhat  modified,  was  adopted  by  the  Assembly ;  and,  on 
22d  of  August,  1790,  sanctioned  by  Louis  the  Sixteenth. 
Instead  of  writing  to  the  British  Parliament  themselves,  the 
Assembly  requested  the  King  to  write  to  the  King  of  Great 
Britain,  inviting  him  to  propose  to  the  Parliament  the  for 
mation  of  a  joint  commission  of  members  of  the  Royal 
Society  and  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  to  ascertain  the 
natural  standard  in  the  length  of  the  pendulum.  Whether 
the  forms  of  the  British  Constitution,  the  temper  of  political 
animosity  then  subsisting  between  the  two  countries,  or  the 


METRIC    SYSTEM    OF    WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  11 

convulsions  and  wars  which  soon  afterwards  ensued,  pre 
vented  the  acceptance  and  execution  of  this  proposal,  it  is 

deeply  to  be  lamented  that  it  was  not  carried  into  effect. 
***** 

"  The  idea  of  associating  the  interests  and  the  learning  of 
other  nations  in  this  great  effort  for  common  improvement 
was  not  confined  to  the  proposal  for  obtaining  the  concur 
rent  agency  of  Great  Britain.  Spain,  Italy,  the  Netherlands, 
Denmark,  and  Switzerland  were  actually  represented  in  the 
proceedings  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  to  accomplish  the 
purposes  of  the  National  Assembly.  But,  in  the  first  in 
stance,  a  committee  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  consisting  of 
five  of  the  ablest  members  of  the  Academy  and  most  emi 
nent  mathematicians  of  Europe,  Bprtla,,  Lagrange,  Laplace, 
Monge^and  Condorcet,  were  chosen,  under  the  decree  of  the 
assembly,  to  report  to  that  body  upon  the  selection  of  the 
^^tural^tandard  and  other  principles  proper  for  the  accom- 
^pl  i  sh  TYI  pjvt  i_of  _jjh  ftjnthjpfif:  .  Their  report  to  the  Academy  was 
made  on  the  19th  of  March,  1791,  and  immediately  trans 
mitted  to  the  national  assembly,  by  whose  orders  it  was 
printed.  The  committee,  after  examining  three  projects  of  a 
natural  standard,  the  pendulum  beating  seconds,  a  quarter 

of  the  equator,  and  a  quarter  of  the  meridian,  had,  on  a  full 

1  f-^^_r  - 
deliberation,  and  with  great  accuracy  of  judgmnt,  preferred 

the  last,  and  proposed  that  its  ten-millionth 


taken  ga—  tbg-stan^ard  unit  of  linear  measures  that,  as  a 
second  standard  "of  comparison  with  it,  the  pendulum  vibrat 
ing  seconds  at  the  forty-fifth  degree  of  latitude  should  be 
assumed,  and  that  the  weight  of  distilled  water  at  the  point 
of  freezing,  measured  by  a  cubical  vessel  in  decimal  propor 
tion  to  the  linear  standard,  should  determine  the  standard  of 
weights  and  of  vessels  of  capacity."  / 

This  report  having  received  the  sanction  of  the  assembly, 


12  ORIGIN    AND    NATURE    OF    THE 

committees  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  were  appointed  to 
make  with  all  the  necessary  precision  the  determinations 
upon  which  were  to  rest  the  standard  units  of  the  new 
metrological  system.  The  most  laborious  of  these  deter 
minations  consisted  in  the  trigonometrical  measurement  of 
an  arc  of  the  meridian  extending  through  France  from 
Dunkirk  to  Barcelona  ;  an  operation  which  occupied  seven 
years.  The  design  of  this  was  to  determine  with  exactness 
the  length  of  the  linear  base,  called  the  METRE.  But  the 
assembly  did  not  wait  for  the  completion  of  this  great  work 
before  giving  to  the  system  a  legal  and  a  practical  existence;  - 
the  length  of  the  degree  of  latitude  being  already  known 
with  a  sufficiently  near  approach  to  exactness  to  make  any 
possible  error  of  the  metre  founded  upon  it  entirely  insen 
sible  for  the  ordinary  purposes  of  life.  The  system  was 
therefore  provisionally  established  by  a  law  of  the  1st  of 
August,  1793  ;  and  the  nomenclature  which  now  distin 


guishes  it  was  adopted  on  the  18th  Germinal,  An.  III.,  (7th 
April,  1795). 

In  the  seventh  year  of  the  Kepublic  (1799)  an  inter 
national  commission  was  assembled  at  Paris,  on  the  invita 
tion  of  the  government,  to  settle,  from  the  results  of  the 
great  Meridian  Survey,  the  exact  length  of  the  "  definitive 
metre."  In  this  commission  were  represented  the  governments 
of  France,  Holland,  Denmark,  Sweden,  Switzerland,  Spain, 
Savoy,  and  the  Eoman,  Cisalpine  and  Ligurian  Eepublics. 
After  the  completion  of  its  labors,  the  commission  proceeded 
on  the  4th  Messidor,  An.  VII.  (22d.June,  1799),  to  deposit, 
at  the  Palace  of  the  Archives,  in  Paris,  the  standard  metre- 
bar  of  platinum,  which  represents  the"  linear  base  of  the 
system  ;  jind  the  standard  kilogramme  weight,  also  of  pla 
tinum,  which  represents  the  unit  of  metric  weights. 

Of  these  prototype  standards,  numerous  copies  have  been 


METRIC    SYSTEM    OF    WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  13 

taken,  which,  after  having  been  compared  with  the  originals 
with  the  severest  exactness,  have  been  made  standards  of 
reference  and  verification  in  the  various  countries  in  which 
the  system  has  been  adopted. 

THE  METRIC  SYSTEM,  founded  on  the  metre  as  the  unit  of 
length,  has  four  other  leading  units,  all  connected  with  and 
dependent  upon  this.  Hence  we  have — 

s~ 

1.  The  METRE,  which  is  the  unit  of  measures  of  length. 

2.  The  ARE,  which  is  the  unit  of  measures  of  surface,  and 

is  the  square  of  ten  metres. 

3.  The  LITRE,  which  is  the  unit  of  measures  of  capacity, 

and  is  the  cube  of  a  tenth  part  of  the  metre. 

4.  The  STERE,  which  is  the  unit  of  measures  of  solidity, 

having  the  capacity  of  a  cubic  metre. 

5.  The  GRAMME,  which  is  the  unit  of  measures  of  weight, 

and  is  the  weight  of  that  quantity  of  distilled  water, 
at  its  maximum  density,  which  fills  the  cube  of  the 
hundredth  part  of  the  metre. 

Each  unit  has  its  decimal  multiples  and  submultiples,  that 
is,  weights  and  measures  ten  times  larger  or  ten  times 
smaller  than  the  principal  unit.  These  multiples  and  sub- 
multiples  are  indicated  by  prefixes  placed  before  the  names 
of  the  several  fundamental  units.  The  prefixes  denoting 
multiples  are  derived  from  the  Greek  language  ;  and  are  deka, 
ten  ;  hecto,  hundred  ;  kilo,  thousand  ;  and  myria,  ten  thousand. 
Those  denoting  submultiples  are  taken  from  the  Latin  ;  and 
are,  deci,  tenth  ;  centi,  hundredth  ;  and  milli,  thousandth. 

The  following  table  embraces  all  the  weights  and  measures 
of  the  system : 


ORIGIN    AND    NATURE    OF    THE 


SURFACE. 


CAPACITY. 


SOLIDITY. 


WEIGHT. 


10,000  ____  Myria-metre. 
1,000  ____  Kilo-metre  .  . 
100  ____  Hecto-metre. 
10....Deka-metre.  . 
UNIT.   METRE, 
.1.  .  .Deci-metre  .  . 
.  Centi-metre.  . 


.01 


Kilo-litre Kilo-gramme. 

.  Hect-are ....  Hecto-litre Hecto-gramme. 

Deka-litre. .  .Deka-stere  .  Deka-gramme. 

LITRE,        STERE,     GRAMME, 

Deci-litre Deci-stere.  .Deci-gramme. 

.  Centi-litre Centi-gramme. 

MLlli-litre Milli-gramme. 


ARE, 

Deci-are. , 
.  Centi-are . 
.001.  Milli-inetre  

The  denominations  of  solid  measure  beyond  the  first 
multiple  and  sub-multiple  by  ten  are  not  in  use.  The  term 
stere  itself  is  in  fact  rarely  employed,  measures  of  solidity  or 
volume  being  usually  expressed  in  cubic  denominations  of 
the  linear  base.  Of  agrarian  measures,  the  only  derivatives 
of  the  unit  in  use  are  the  hectare,  the  deciare,  and  the  centi- 
are. 

VALUES    OF   UMTS. 

UNIT    OF    LENGTH. 

Myriametre 10,000         Metres. 

Kilometre 1,000 

Hectometre 100 

Decametre 10 

METRE 1 

Decimetre 0.1 

Centimetre 0.01 

Millimetre 0.001 

The  METRE  is  equal  to  3.280899  feet  nearly ;  or  to  39.37079 
inches. 

The  unit  of  Itinerary  measure  is  the  KILOMETRE,  which  is 
equal  to  0.62138  miles. 

UNIT    OF    SURFACE. 

Hectare 100      Ares  or  1000  Square  Metres. 

ARE 1        "       "100      "  " 

Deciare 0.1     "       "       10 

Centiare. .         0.01  "       "         1       " 


or  TV  of  a  metre. 


ToTF 
"  ToVo 


METRIC    SYSTEM    OF    WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.          15 

The  ARE  is  equal  to  119.60332  square  yards  ;  the  HECTARE, 
the  Agrarian  unit,  to  2.47114  acres. 

UNIT    OF  CAPACITY. 

Hectolitre  =  100      Litres. 

Dekalitre   =    10 

LITRE        =1         " 

Decilitre     =      0.1      "         or  T\y  of  a  Litre. 

Centilitre  =      0.01    "         "  ^      " 

Millilitre     =      0.001"         "  Winr     " 

The  LITRE  is  equal  to  0.28418635  gallons,  or  1.0567454 
quarts,  or  2.1134908  pints. 

UNIT    OF   WEIGHT. 

Kilogramme  .........  1000          Grammes. 

Hectogramme  ........  100 

Dekagramme  ........  10 

GRAMME  .............       1 

Decigramme  ........       0.1  "     or  TV  of  a  gramme. 

Centigramme  ........       0  .  01          «      "  T-i  o     " 

Milligramme  .........       0.001 


« 


The  GRAMME  is  equal  to  15.43234874  grains.* 
The  KILOGRAMME,  which  is  the  unit  of  commercial  weight, 
is  equal  to  2.20462125  pounds  avoirdupois. 

*  This  is  the  Gramme  as  derived  from  the  weight  in  vacuo  of  the  platinum  Kilo 
gramme  of  the  Archives,  asdetermined  by  Prof.  MILLER  of  London,  in  1844,  and  adopt 
ed  by  the  Standards-Department  of  the  British  Government.  See  APPENDIX  B. 


THE  METRIC  SYSTEM 


OP 


WEIGHTS  AND  MEASURES. 


I. — Recent  Progress  of  Metrological  Reform. 

INTRODUCTION. 

GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CONVOCATION  : 

The  sense  of  the  right  of  property  is  an  instinctive 
feeling,  of  which  the  existence  is  co-extensive  with 
intelligence.  We  find  abundant  evidence  of  its  pres 
ence  in  the  lower  animals  as  well  as  in  ourselves. 
The  dog,  for  instance,  when  he  has  satisfied  his  hunger, 
carefully  stores  up  the  superfluous  bone  of  to-day,  in 
prudent  provision  for  the  anticipated  wants  of  the 
morrow.  The  beast  of  the  forest  bears  his  prey  to  the 
lair  which  he  has  appropriated  to  himself ;  and  the 
birds  defend  with  spirit  the  nests  which  their  own 
labors  have  constructed.  In  the  social  animals,  as  the 
beaver,  and  the  social  insects,  as  the  ant  and  the  bee, 
we  see  the  principle  more  broadly  developed.  In 


18  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

these  cases,  the  dwelling  which  the  common  toil  has 
constructed  or  prepared,  and  the  stores  which  the 
common  industry  has  gathered,  are  the  common  prop 
erty  of  all  ;  and  are  apportioned  for  the  benefit  of 
individuals  upon  principles  which  we  probably  do  not 
understand.  But  the  lower  animals,  though  they 
appropriate  to  themselves  articles  which  seem  desir 
able,  and  assert  a  right  of  property  in  the  objects 
thus  appropriated,  never  propose  to  relinquish  one 
possession  in  consideration  of  an  equivalent  offered  in 
the  form  of  another.  They  have  no  notion  of  com 
merce  or  exchange  even  in  its  simplest  form.  The 
commercial  idea  makes  its  first  appearance  in  man. 
It  is  present  in  every  stage  of  human  civilization.  Its 
earliest  practical  illustration  is  in  the  form  of  barter, 
in  which  objects  supposed  to  have  value  are  exchanged 
one  against  the  other  ;  or  a  single  one  of  a  certain 
description  for  several  of  another.  But  as  wealth 
increases,  and  as  its  forms  become  more  diversified, 
the  necessity  of  determining  equivalents  by  quantity 
rather  than  by  tale,  becomes  manifest ;  and  out  of  this 
necessity  springs  the  creation  of  conventional  stand 
ards,  by  means  of  which  quantities  may  be  always  and 
everywhere  verified,  and  definite  quantities  be  cor 
rectly  ascertained.  Hence  have  arisen  the  various 
systems  of  weight  and  measure  which  have  prevailed 
among  different  peoples,  some  form  of  which  has  been 
found  to  accompany  even  the  rudest  civilization. 
Such  systems  having  originated  before  anything  like 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  19 

intellectual  culture  existed,  have  been  constructed 
without  any  thought  of  scientific  method,  and  have 
owed  their  earliest  form  to  accident  or  caprice.  As 
social  and  political  institutions  have  become  more  fully 
developed,  legislation  has  stepped  in  from  time  to 
time  to  alter  if  not  to  improve  these  primitive  systems ; 
to  change  the  value  of  their  unit  bases  ;  or  to  modify 
the  relations  to  these  bases  of  the  derivative  denomi 
nations  ;  until,  at  the  present  time,  there  is  no  reason 
to  believe  that  there  survives  in  any  existing  system  of 
weights  and  measures  a  single  value  of  any  unit  iden 
tical  with  one  in  use  two  thousand  years  ago  ;  or  a 
law  of  derivation  connecting  the  different  branches  of 
the  system,  the  weights  and  the  measures  of  capacity, 
for  instance,  with  the  linear  base,  such  as  governed  the 
same  relations  at  a  period  so  far  remote  in  the  past 
as  the  earlier  ages  of  the  Christian  era. 

To  change  systems  of  weight  and  measure,  and  to 
change  them  by  legislation,  is  therefore  no  new  thing, 
first  thought  of  in  our  day.  It  is  a  thing  which  has 
been  going  on  ever  since  the  birth  of  civilization.  It 
is  not  in  itself  a  good  thing,  or  a  desirable  thing,  or  a 
thing  we  should  engage  in  for  its  own  sake  ;  neither  is 
it  a  desirable  thing  to  pull  down  the  dwelling  in  which 
we  have  long  lived,  even  though  it  may  be  inconve 
nient.  Time  has,  perhaps,  reconciled  us  to  the  incon 
veniences  ;  use  has  made  us  forgetful  of  their  exist 
ence  ;  or  habit  has  possibly,  for  such  is  human  nature, 
converted  defects  into  merits  in  our  eyes.  But  when 


20  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

we  do  pull  down  the  old  home,  and  we  often  do,  and 
Americans  do  so  probably  oftener  than  they  ought, 
and  in  its  place  erect  an  edifice  constructed  on  better 
principles,  we  find,  in  the  increased  comfort  which  fol 
lows,  a  justification  of  the  proceeding,  and  a  compen 
sation  for  all  the  trouble  and  expense  it  has  cost  us. 

There  has  grown  up  within  our  own  century  a 
branch  of  systematic  inquiry,  which  in  recent  years 
has  been  prosecuted  with  a  high  degree  of  activity, 
under  the  name  of  "  social  science."  This  inquiry  com 
prehends  in  its  scope  every  problem  interesting  to 
human  society,  political,  educational,  moral,  econom 
ical,  commercial,  statistical,  and  sanitary  ;  its  aim 
being  not  merely  the  enlargement  of  knowledge  for 
its  own  sake,  but  the  practical  amelioration  of  the 
condition  of  man.  In  an  investigation  so  comprehen 
sive,  the  subject  of  weights,  measures  and  coins,  the 
instruments  by  means  of  which  the  values  of  all 
objects  which  make  up  the  wealth  of  nations  must  be 
measured,  and  by  means  of  which  also  the  exchanges 
of  commodities  which  constitute  the  world's  commerce 
must  be  effected,  could  not  escape  attention.  An 
earnest  movement  has  accordingly  been  going  on  in 
our  time  which,  during  the  past  twenty  years,  has 
been  pressed  with  especial  urgency,  having  for  its 
object  to  remove  the  impediments  to  freedom  and 
facility  of  commercial  intercourse  between  nations,  and 
the  obstacles  to  the  intelligent  understanding,  on  the 
part  of  individuals,  of  the  material  condition  of  the 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  21 

world  and  the  progress  of  contemporaneous  history, 
which  arise  from  the  diversity  and  discordance  of 
existing  metrological  systems.  At  a  former  meeting 
of  this  convocation,  an  ardent  friend  of  the  movement 
here  spoken  of,  a  gentleman  who  was  at  that  time  a 
member  of  our  national  legislature,  addressed  you  on 
this  subject,  and  recommended  it  earnestly  to  your 
favorable  consideration.  The  result  was  disappointing. 
The  movement  failed  to  command  from  you  the  antici 
pated  sympathy  ;  and  in  approaching  the  same  subject 
to-day,  I  feel  how  heavy  is  the  task  of  one  who  at 
tempts  to  plead  before  you  a  cause  in  which  so  able, 
so  zealous,  and  so  eloquent  an  advocate  has  failed. 

There  is  something  in  the  very  fact  that  I  venture 
to  address  you  upon  a  subject  which  has  occupied  the 
attention  of  your  learned  body  now  for  several  years, 
which  has  been  regularly  referred  to  a  committee  of 
able  and  distinguished  men  selected  from  your  num 
ber,  which  has  been  maturely  considered  and  elabo 
rately  reported  on  by  them,  and  has  at  length,  after 
full  opportunity  for  discussion  and  comparison  of 
views,  been  finally  disposed  of  by  the  adoption  and 
publication  of  their  report,  which  convicts  me,  in 
appearance  at  least,  of  presumption,  and  which  is  not 
likely  to  win  me  your  favor  in  advance.  It  is,  there 
fore,  due  to  myself  to  say,  that  in  asking  your  indul 
gence  while  I  recall  your  attention  for  a  few  moments 
to  a  subject  which  has  lost  its  novelty  for  you,  I  am 
acting  under  instructions  from  a  body  whose  authority 


22  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

I  am  not  at  liberty  to  disregard.  On  the  first  day  of 
May  last  a  resolution  was  adopted  by  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  Columbia  College,  in  the  following  words  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  President  be  requested  to 
attend  the  next  meeting  of  the  Convocation  of  the 
University  of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  to  explain 
to  that  body  how  far  the  views  of  the  Faculty  of 
Columbia  College,  in  respect  to  the  Metric  System  of 
Weights  and  Measures,  are  in  accordance  with  those 
set  forth  in  the  report  of  a  Committee  made  to  the 
Convocation  on  that  subject  in  August  last." 

This  resolution  imposes  upon  me  a  duty  which  I 
have  no  choice  but  to  fulfil.  I  trust,  therefore,  that  I 
shall  not  be  suspected  of  intending  any  disrespect  to 
the  Convocation  if,  in  discharging  it,  I  give  expression 
to  views  considerably  at  variance  with  those  which 
have  received  the  sanction  of  this  body. 

ACTION  OF  THE  TRUSTEES  AND  FACULTY  OF  COLUMBIA 
COLLEGE  ON  THE  SUBJECT  OF  METROLOGICAL  REFORM. 

The  interest  of  the  Trustees  of  Columbia  College  in 
the  Metric  System  of  Weights  and  Measures,  dates 
back  to  a  period  preceding  my  own  connection  with 
that  institution.  In  the  minutes  of  the  Faculty  of  the 
college,  I  find  it  stated,  under  date  of  April  8,  1864, 
that  a  resolution  calling  the  attention  of  the  Faculty  to 
the  subject  had  been  passed  by  the  Trustees  on  the 
Monday  preceding  ;  and  this  resolution  is  recorded 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  23 

under  a  date   a  little  later,  in  the  following  words, 
viz. — 

1  i  Resolved,  That  in  view  of  the  important  interna 
tional  movement  in  progress  for  the  purpose  of  estab 
lishing  a  uniform  system  of  Weights,  Measures,  and 
Coins  for  the  civilized  world,  it  be  referred  to  the 
Faculty  of  the  College  to  prepare  and  submit  to  this 
Board  a  memorial  to  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  on  behalf  of  the  College,  expressing  its  sense  of 
the  importance  of  the  measure  in  question." 

In  compliance  with  the  request  of  this  resolution,  a 
committee  was  appointed  to  draw  up  such  a  memorial, 
consisting  of  Professors  McYiCKAR,  ANTHON,  DAVIES, 
LIBBER,  and  ROOD.  Upon  the  thirteenth  of  May  next 
following  this  appointment,  the  committee  reported  a 
memorial  which  was  adopted  by  the  Board  of  the 
College,  and  ordered  to  be  signed  by  the  President  and 
laid  before  the  Trustees. 

In  this  memorial  the  metric  unit  of  length  is  com 
pared  with  the  British  (and  American)  unit ;  and  the 
metric  system  of  derivation,  by  which  the  measures  of 
surface,  capacity,  solidity,  and  weight,  are  deduced 
from  the  unit  of  length,  is  compared  with  the  confused 
system  or  lack  of  system  which  unfortunately  pervades 
the  metrology  of  the  English  speaking  nations ;  and  on 
both  these  points  the  opinion  of  the  Faculty  of  Colum 
bia  College  is  expressed,  with  an  emphasis  which 
argues  deep  conviction,  in  favor  of  the  former.  The 


24  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

memorial  goes  further,  and  advocates  certain  views  in 
regard  to  the  unification  of  the  coinage  of  the  world, 
in  which  I  should  not  be  able  fully  to  concur,  but  to 
which  I  design  to  give  no  present  attention,  since  the 
coinage  question  is  one  which  will  probably  be  inde 
pendently  settled  ;  though  when  it  is  settled  it  will 
doubtless  be  settled  by  making  the  weights  of  all 
coins  metrical.* 

In  the  minutes  of  the  Trustees  of  the  college,  I  find 
it  recorded  that  the  document  here  spoken  of  was  read 
before  that  body  on  the  18th  of  May,  1864,  and  that 
an  order  was  afterwards  taken  directing  that  it  should 
be  forwarded  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  at  Washington,  with  a  request  that  he 
should  lay  it  before  the  national  legislature.  This 
memorial  is  spread  at  length  upon  the  minutes  both  of 
the  Faculty  and  of  the  Trustees.  Along  with  it  appears, 
in  the  latter,  an  independent  memorial  expressing 
similar  sentiments,  which  was  adopted  by  the  Trustees 

*  The  question  of  the  unification  of  coins  has  been  the  subject  of  several 
international  conferences  and  of  much  diplomatic  negotiation.  A  definite 
proposition  regarding  it  was  addressed  to  foreign  governments,  in  1870,  by 
the  Government  of  the  United  States,  through  its  ministers  resident  abroad, 
which  proposition  may  be  regarded  as  still  pending.  This  consideration  alone 
would  suggest  the  propriety  of  refraining  from  the  discussion  in  this  place  of 
the  various  projects  for  such  unification,  which  have  been  heretofore  proposed. 
The  question,  however,  is  complicated  by  considerations  of  great  gravity, 
which  affect  but  slightly  the  simpler  one  of  the  unification  of  systems  of  weight 
and  measure  ;  and  which  render  it  expedient,  if  not  indispensable,  that  the 
two  questions  should  be  kept  separate.  See  APPENDIX  A 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  25 

in  their  own  behalf,  and  forwarded  to  Congress  by 
their  order  at  the  same  time. 

With  all  this  history  I  had  nothing  to  do.  The 
whole  transaction  had  been  completed  before  I  became 
a  member  either  of  the  Faculty  or  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  Columbia  College.  I  have  recounted  the 
particulars  in  evidence  that  Columbia  College  had 
taken  her  position  on  this  question  long  ago.  The 
duty  imposed  upon  me  is  to  state  to  you  some  of  the 
reasons  which  have  led  her  to  assume  this  attitude. 

And  here  I  wish  to  be  understood  as  not  intending 
to  assert  that,  among  the  members  of  the  two  bodies 
whom  I,  in  a  certain  sense,  represent  here,  there  are 
not  individuals  who  dissent  from  the  views  to  which 
the  majority  have  committed  themselves.  Among  the 
Trustees,  indeed,  I  know  of  none  such  ;  but  your  own 
records  show  that  there  is  at  least  one  distinguished 
dissentient  among  the  Faculty.  If  there  are  others, 
they,  as  well  as  myself,  are  members  of  this  convoca 
tion  ;  and  they  may,  and  perhaps  willr  speak  for 
themselves.  I  am  not  aware  that  there  are  any,  but 
my  impression  may  be  mistaken. 

THE    PREVALENCE    OF  A   PARTICULAR    SYSTEM    LESS    IMPOR 
TANT    THAN    THE    ADOPTION    OF    A    COMMON    SYSTEM. 

To  proceed  now  to  the  matter  in  hand,  it  is,  in  the 
first  place,  a  fact  particularly  noteworthy,  that  the 
Trustees  of  Columbia  College,  in  their  resolution  of 


26  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

April,  1864,  did  not  mention  the  metric  system  in  so 
many  words,  nor  propose  to  memorialize  Congress  in 
favor  of  any  particular  system  of  weights  and  meas 
ures  designated  by  name.  What  they  asked  was  that 
the  college  should  express  its  sense  of  the  importance 
of  the  creation  of  a  uniform  system  of  weights  and 
measures  for  the  use  of  the  civilized  world.  If  they 
have  been  led  to  believe,  as  I  think  they  have,  that 
such  a  uniform  system  can  be  reached  in  no  other  way 
than  through  the  ultimate  adoption  of  the  metric 
system  ;  and  that  whatever  may  be  the  differences  of 
(opinion  as  to  this  matter  just  here  and  now,  such  a 
result  most  inevitably  will  be  reached  in  this  way 
sooner  or  later  ;  it  is  impossible  that  they  can  regard 
without  concern  the  exertion  of  any  influence  which 
may  serve  sensibly  to  retard  an  event  deemed  by  them 
so  desirable,  and  which  however  retarded  is,  in  their 
opinion,  sure  to  come  at  last. 

But  still  the  question  raised  by  them,  and  the  ques 
tion  first  in  order  before  us  now,  is  not,  whether  it  is 
expedient  that  we  should  forthwith  adopt  the  metric 
system  ;  it  is  rather,  whether  it  is  worth  while  to  try 
to  secure  a  common  system  ;  because,  if  this  is  not  so, 
there  is  nothing  left  to  talk  about.  Nor  yet,  suppos 
ing  that  this  first  question  is  settled  affirmatively,  and 
we  agree  that  a  common  system  of  weights  and  meas 
ures  would  be  worth  having  if  we  could  get  it,  can  we 
make  the  question  of  the  metric  system  even  the 
second  question  in  order  ;  for  the  second  question 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  27 

should  be,  what  are  the  efforts,  of  those  which  we  are 
able  and  willing  to  make  to  secure  the  desired  object, 
in  attempting  which  we  may  be  encouraged  by  the 
hope  of  success  ;  and  what  are  those  which  we  may  as 
well  take  warning  in  the  outset  to  avoid,  as  certain 
inevitably  to  fail. 

THE    MAIN    OBSTACLE    TO   METROLOGICAL    REFORM    CONSISTS 
IN    THE    INCOMMENSURABILITY    OF    UNIT    BASES. 

Now,  in  looking  at  the  different  metrological  sys 
tems  at  present  in  use  in  the  civilized  world — and  the 
number  is  very  encouragingly  smaller  at  present  than 
it  was  even  twenty  years  ago — we  shall  see  that  the 
great  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  practical  unification  of 
systems  is  not  the  mere  fact  of  difference  in  the  abso 
lute  magnitude  of  the  standard  units  whether  of  weight 
or  of  length  or  of  surface  or  of  capacity  ;  nor  the  mere 
fact  of  difference  in  the  names  by  which  we  distinguish 
these  units  and  their  multiples  or  subdivisions  ;  nor 
the  mere  fact  of  difference  in  the  arithmetical  law  by 
which  the  several  denominations  of  weight  or  measure 
are  related  to  each  other  ;  nor  yet  the  greater  or  less 
degree  of  exactness  with  which  the  base  of  any  system 
may  conform  to  any  dimension  in  nature  variable  or 
invariable  ;  though  these  are  matters  concerning  which 
a  great  deal  of  breath  is  wasted  in  the  discussions 
which  go  on  about  the  metric  system  ;  the  difficulty 
which  stands  out  so  prominently  as  to  dwarf  all  the  rest 
to  insignificance,  is  the  fact  that  the  standard  units  of 


28  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

these  several  systems  are  practically  incommensurable. 
I  say  practically  incommensurable — I  am  not  using 
terms  with  strict  scientific  severity — but  the  difficulty 
is  as  serious  as  if  the  incommensurability  were  actual 
and  absolute. 

To  illustrate  what  I  mean :  the  Austrian  foot  measure, 
for  instance,  exceeds  our  own  by  361  ten-thousandth 
parts  ;  ,or,  expressed  in  inches,  it  is  equal  to  12  British 
or  American  inches  and  4332-lOOOOths  of  an  inch. 
We  might  reverse  the  mode  of  presentation,  and  say 
that  the  American  foot  is  0.96516  of  an  Austrian  foot, 
or  11.5819  Austrian  inches.  The  fractions  here  given 
do  not  express  the  exact  relation.  We  may  run  the 
decimals  on  for  half  a  mile  without  reaching  the  end  ; 
but  they  go  far  enough  for  the  purpose  of  my  illus 
tration. 

To  transform,  therefore,  a  value  expressed  in  one  of 
these  measures  into  an  equivalent  value  expressed  in 
the  other,  is  an  operation  laborious  and  irksome.  But 
the  arithmetical  disadvantage  is  by  no  means  the 
whole >  or  even  the  greater  part,  of  the  evil  which  this 
state  of  things  produces.  A  much  more  grave  con 
sideration  is  the  fact  that  it  interposes  an  effectual  bar 
to  the  intelligent  interchange  of  thought.  It  renders 
it  impossible  for  an  American  to  converse  understand- 
ingly  with  an  Austrian  on  any  subject  involving  quan 
tities  of  any  description.  It  makes  it  impossible  for 
an  American  to  derive  instruction  from  an  Austrian 
book  or  magazine  or  journal  where  quantities  are 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  29 

mentioned  ;  or  an  Austrian  from  an  American.  This  is 
an  enormous  evil,  and  as  it  exists  not  in  this  quarter 
only,  but  everywhere,  the  world  has  crying  need  of  its 
removal.  It  is  the  evil  of  which,  first  and  chiefest  of 
all,  the  advocates  of  metrological  reform  desire  to  be 
rid.  And  yet,  unless  I  greatly  misunderstand  the 
purport  of  much  of  the  reasoning  I  hear  going  on 
upon  this  subject,  the  very  fact  that  this  abominable 
evil  exists,  the  very  fact  that  there  is  something  to  be 
got  rid  of,  something  that  we  want  to  be  rid  of  and 
something  which  we  ought  to  be  rid  of,  is  made  an 
argument  why  we  should  not  try  to  be  rid  of  it  at  all. 
If  there  are  any  to  whom  this  argument  is  satisfactory, 
with  them  of  course  the  case  is  closed,  and  upon  such 
nothing  that  I  can  say  will  produce  any  impression. 
There  are  some,  probably,  not  of  this  class,  and  they 
may  be  disposed  to  consider  with  me  what  means  there 
are  by  which  we  may  be  relieved  of  this  artificial 
obstruction  to  intelligent  communication  with  other 
peoples. 

METHODS  POSSIBLE  OF  OVERCOMING  THE  OBSTACLE. 

Three  methods  present  themselves.  Continuing  the 
illustration  furnished  by  the  example  just  presented, 
they  are  these  :  We  may  adopt  the  Austrian  unit ; 
Austria  may  adopt  ours  ;  or  both  nations  may  adopt  a 
third,  incommensurable  with  either.  Any  one  of 
these  expedients  will  reconcile  us  with  each  other ; 
that  one  will  be  chosen,  if  any,  which,  besides  doing 


30  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

this,  will  do  most  to  promote  the  grander  object  of  an 
universal  accord  among  nations. 

Now,  if  we  go  over  to  Austria  in  this  matter,  we 
lose  more  than  we  gain  ;  and  in  speaking  of  loss  and 
gain  here,  I  mean  loss  and  gain  as  it  respects  our 
international  relations,  and  not  as  it  respects  our 
internal  or  domestic  affairs  ;  (I  am  setting  aside 
altogether,  therefore,  that  inconvenience  to  ourselves 

o 

at  home,  which  would  exist  temporarily  in  consequence 
of  the  incommensurability  of  the  new  unit  with  the 
old — an  inconvenience  on  which  your  able  reporter 
has  so  feelingly  dwelt  as  likely  to  result  from  our 
giving  up  the  foot  for  the  metre) — we  lose  then  I  say, 
more  than  we  gain  by  this  concession,  because  we 
fall  out  of  harmony  with  the  great  British  Empire  for 
the  sake  of  securing  harmony  with  a  people  who 
occupy,  as  Mr.  Webster  more  forcibly  than  politely 
remarked,  only  a  small  patch  of  the  earth's  surface, 
compared  with  our  vast  domain.  On  the  other  hand, 
if  Austria  yields  the  point,  she  will  fall  into  harmony, 
it  is  true,  with  us  and  with  Great  Britain,  nations 
however  from  whom  she  is  geographically  separated 
very  widely  ;  but  this  advantage  will  be  gained  at  the 
expense  of  discord  with  the  several  peoples  who  lie 
between  her  and  the  British  Islands  ;  all  of  whom  have 
embraced  the  metric  system,  or  adopted  metric  values 
in  their  own.  If,  however,  thirdly,  both  of  us  adopt 
the  metre,  America  will  not  only  be  in  accord  with 
Austria,  but  with  the  greater  part  of  continental 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  31 

Europe  at  the  same  time  ;  and  as  Great  Britain  has 
given  decisive  indications  of  a  disposition  to  become 
metric  also,  the  probability  is  that,  soon,  the  whole 
civilized  world,  unless  Russia  and  the  Scandinavian 
peoples  continue  to  be  exceptions,  will  have  but  a 
single  system  of  weights  and  measures. 

SIMPLICITY     OF      THE      PROBLEM      OF     UNIFICATION     WHEN 
UNIT    BASES     ARE     COMMENSURABLE. 

Now  if  this  difference  between  us  and  Austria  had  not 
been  such  a  difference  ;  if  the  unit,  for  instance,  of  Aus 
tria,  had  been  we  will  say  a  cubit,  and  such  a  cubit  (for 
there  have  been  many  of  them)  as  to  be  exactly  equal  to 
eighteen  British  inches  ;  the  evil  of  incommensurability 
would  not  exist  and  the  question  of  unification  would 
simplify  itself  materially.  We  might  both  of  us  agree  to 
adopt  a  measure  of  six  inches  as  our  common  unit;  and 
this  we  might  call  a  span,  abandoning  both  the  cubit  and 
the  foot.  There  would  be  some,  no  doubt,  who  would 
lament  over  the  loss  of  the  ' '  short  and  sharp  Saxon 
word,  foot,"  and  would  find  no  sufficient  comfort  even 
in  "  span/'  which  though  Saxon  and  short  is  not  so 
sharp  ;  but  I  think  that  if  a  change  of  this  simple 
description,  affecting  only  names  and  modes  of  division 
and  not  actual  values  at  all,  would  bring  us  into 
harmony  with  any  great  people,  and  still  more  if  it 
would  bring  us  into  harmony  with  all  the  world, 
we  should  do  it  notwithstanding.  This  illustrates  the 


32  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

immense  difference  as  it  respects  facility  of  solution 
which  the  problem  of  metrological  unification  would 
present,  if  the  unit  bases  of  the  existing  national 
systems  were  commensurable  with  each  other,  as 
compared  with  what  it  is  now. 

With  the  great  empire  of  Russia,  we  have,  indeed, 
precisely  such  a  point  of  contact  in  our  two  national 
systems  of  length  measure,  as  that  which  I  have  just 
been  imagining.  It  is  matter  of  familiar  history,  that 
in  the  year  1698,  the  singularly  enterprising  and  ener 
getic  emperor,  PETER  the  Great,  passed,  incognito,  in 
the  train  of  one  of  his  own  embassies,  first  into  Hol 
land,  where  he  engaged  himself  as  an  operative  ship- 
carpenter,  and  labored  for  months  with  remarkable 
assiduity  ;  and  secondly,  in  the  following  year,  into 
England,  where  he  became  finally  master  of  that  im 
portant  branch  of  constructive  art ;  and  where  subse 
quently,  having  made  himself  known  to  the  then 
reigning  King,  WILLIAM  III.,  he  received  from  that 
monarch  every  honor  due  to  his  exalted  station.  Re 
turning  to  his  own  country,  he  took  with  him  a  num 
ber  of  British  ship-builders  and  other  artificers,  whom 
he  paid  with  liberality  and  employed  in  the  navy  yards 
which  he  immediately  proceeded  to  found.  It  was 
probably  a  consequence  of  his  own  industrial  education 
in  England,  and  of  the  British  predilections  of  the 
advisers  and  practical  assistants  whom  he  took  home 
with  him  to  carry  out  his  plans,  that  he  was  induced 
to  modify  the  length  of  the  sagene,  the  standard  length 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  33 

unit  of  the  empire,  so  as  to  make  it  commensurable 
with  the  British  foot.  Since  early  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  therefore,  the  length  of  the  legal  standard 
unit  of  Russia  has  been  seven  feet,  subdivided  into 
three  archines  of  twenty-eight  inches  each;  the  archine 
being  the  unit  of  common  life,  just  as  in  England,  the 
yard  is  the  legal,  and  the  foot  the  practical,  standard. 
This  state  of  things  admitted  of  the  introduction  be 
tween  ourselves  and  Russia  of  a  common  unit  of  four 
inches  in  length,  which  would  have  been  just  the 
seventh  part  of  an  archine  and  the  third  part  of  a  foot. 
But  within  the  last  forty  years  a  simpler  solution  has 
been  found,  the  Russian  government  having  introduced 
a  subsidiary  unit,  one-seventh  of  a  sagene  in  lengthr 
which  is  called  by  a  name  approaching  as  nearly  to  the 
English  word  foot  as  the  vocal  organs  of  the  people 
will  allow. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  a  reform  so  well  begun  was 
prosecuted  no  further.  This  is  the  only  particular  in 
which  the  Russian  metrological  system  has  anything 
in  common  with  ours,  or  with  any  other  existing. 
And,  from  a  careful  examination  of  all  the  systems  of 
weights  and  measures  established  by  law,  and  at 
present  in  use  among  civilized  peoples,  I  have  been 
unable,  except  in  this  single  instance,  to  discover  be 
tween  any  two  of  them,  any  feature  of  commensura- 
bility,  whether  as  it  respects  weights  or  measures  of 
length  or  surface  or  volume,  which  has  not  been  intro 
duced  by  legislation  since  this  century  began. 


34  .THE   METRIC    SYSTEM   OF 

RECENT     ENCOURAGING     PROGRESS    OF    METROLOGICAL 
REFORM. 

Such  legislation  has,  however,  within  the  period  here 
indicated,  done  so  much  toward  removing  this  chief  of 
all  obstacles  to  the  attainment  of  a  common  system,  as 
greatly  to  encourage  the  friends  of  metrological  reform 
in  the  hope  of  an  ultimate  and  complete  attainment  of 
the  object  in  which  they  are  so  deeply  interested.  It, 
is  worth  remarking,  furthermore,  that  every  such 
change  has  thus  far  consisted  in  replacing  the  values 
of  the  weights  and  measures  in  common  use  by  other 
values  adopted  from  the  metric  system.  I  will 
enumerate  further  on  the  most  important  of  these 
changes  ;  pausing  here  only  to  present  a  single  exam 
ple  to  show  how,  in  some  instances,  the  great  evil  of 
incommensurability  has  been  got  rid  of  without  the 
adoption  of  the  metric  system  in  all  its  details. 

In  the  republic  of  Switzerland,  previously  to  the  year 
1851,  there  prevailed  a  considerable  diversity  of  sys 
tems  of  weight  and  measure  in  the  different  cantons. 
The  most  important  may  be  said  to  have  been  those  of 
Berne,  Zurich,  Basel  and  Lucerne — I  wrill  confine  my 
self  to  the  first  two  named.  In  Berne,  the  futs  (unit  of 
length)  was  11.546  inches  ;  in  Zurich,  it  was  11.812 
inches.  In  Berne,  the  pfund  (unit  of  weight)  was 
18.642  ounces  avoirdupois  ;  in  Zurich,  it  was  18.347 
ounces.  In  Berne,  the  maas  (measure  of  liquid 
capacity)  was  1.766  quarts  ;  in  Zurich,  it  was  1.918 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  35 

quarts.       The  measures  of  dry  capacity  were  very  va 
rious  ;  but   those  which  are  most   easily  comparable 
were    the   maas,    in   Berne,   which   was   0.3876   of  a 
bushel,    equal   to    1.550    pecks  ;    and   the    viertel,    in 
Zurich,  which  was  0.5826  of  a  bushel,  or  2.330  pecks. 
Zurich  had,  in  fact,  four  different  viertels  for   different 
substances  ;  the  measure  given  above   was  for  wheat. 
By  a  law  passed  the  23d  of  March,  1851,  it  was  de 
creed  that,  after  the  31st  of  December,  1856,  the  legal 
unit  of  length  throughout  the  republic  should  be  the 
pied  (foot),  having  the  length   of  .exactly  thirty   centi 
metres  ;    and   that    (abandoning   the    old    duodecimal 
subdivision)  this  should  be  decimally  divided  to  tenths, 
hundredths,   and   thousandths.     Multiples  of  the  unit 
allowed  were  the  brache,  2  feet ;  the  aune,  4  feet :  the 
toise,    6    feet  ;    the  perche,    10    feet  ;    and   the    lieue, 
16,000.     For  the  pfund  was  substituted  the   livre   of 
500  grammes  ;  and  for  subdivision  it  was  left  optional 
to  use  the  binary  system  of  half-pound,  quarter-pound, 
and  so  on,  or  to  employ  the  decimal.     For  dry  capaci 
ty,   the  measure  established  was  the   quarteron,    equal 
to  15  litres  ;  and  for  liquid  capacity,  the  pot,    equal  to 
one  and  a  half  litres.     For  the  last  fifteen  years,  there 
fore,  the  weights   and  measures   of  Switzerland  have 
been    commensurable    with    those    of  the    neighbors 
with  whom  she  is  in  most  frequent  intercourse,    and 
who  have  all  of  them,  more  or  less  completely,  adopt 
ed  the  metric  system. 


36  THE   METRIC   SYSTEM    OF 

DISCORDANT  LAWS  REGULATING  DERIVATIVE  DENOMINA 
TIONS  INCREASE  THE  DIFFICULTY  OF  TRANSFORMING 
VALUES. 

But  though  the  incommensurability  of  the  unit 
bases  is  the  principal  source  of  difficulty  in  effecting 
transformations  of  value  from  one  metrological  system 
to  another,  the  law  of  derivation  of  the  other  denom 
inations  from  these  bases  is  not  a  matter  of  indifference 
as  it  respects  this  operation.  This,  again,  can  be  illus 
trated  by  an  example  which  the  commensurability  of 
the  Russian  standard  unit  of  length  with  our  own 
enables  us  to  derive  from  the  itinerary  measure  in 
common  use  in  the  Russian  empire.  This  itinerary 
unit  is  the  viersta,  anglicized  verst,  which  is  equal  to 
500  sagenes.  Now  there  is  no  difficulty  in  converting 
versts  into  British  feet,  since  (the  sagene  containing 
seven  feet)  500  sagenes  are  3,500  British  feet,  or  the 
half  of  7,000  British  feet  ;  so  that  we  only  have  to 
multiply  the  versts  by  seven,  annex  three  zeros,  and 
take  half  the  result.  But  if  we  wish  to  transform  a 
distance  expressed  in  versts  into  miles — a  mile  being 
the  unit  of  our  own  itinerary  measure — the  process  is 
not  so  simple.  There  are  5,280  feet  in  a  mile,  and  if, 
in  order  to  avoid  this  troublesome  divisor,  we  attempt 
a  reduction  through  the  intermediate  denominations, 
we  encounter  such  relations  as  5i  yards,  or  16i  feet, 
making  a  rod,  which  are  more  troublesome  still.  Now 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  37, 

if,  instead  of  the  present  totally  indefensible  series  of 
relations  between  our  higher  and  lower  denominations 
of  length,  we  had  something  a  little  more  sensible,  or 
if  not  sensible,  at  least  not  worse  than  the  Russian 
(for  the  Russian,  with  its  ratio  of  seven  to  one,  is  only 
a  little  less  bad  than  ours),  the  problem  before  us 
would  admit  of  a  solution  comparatively  simple.  Sup 
pose,  for  example,  that  a  mile  were  made,  as  it  might 
be,  without  harm  to  anybody,  a  round  five  thousand 
feet.  It  is  true  that  "  the  old  familiar  mile  of  1,760 
paces/7  which  your  reporter  seems  to  cherish  so  fondly, 
"would  be  gone  ;  and/'  as  he  correctly  remarks,  4i  the 
distance  from  Albany  to  New  York — one  hundred  and 
forty-five  miles — would  be  known  to  us"  as  something 
quite  different,  say  something  like  one  hundred  and 
fifty-three  sensible  miles.  In  this  case  the  verst  would 
be  3,500-5000,  or  seven-tenths  of  a  mile,  and  the 
transformation  would  be  effected  by  the  use  of  a  very 
small  number  of  figures.  It  would  not,  perhaps,  be 
worth  while  to  adopt  the  new  value  of  the  mile  here 
suggested,  for  the  sake  of  being  able  merely  to  con 
vert  miles  to  versts,  or  versts  to  miles — a  thing  we 
have  to  do  too  seldom  to  make  it  a  matter  of  much 
interest  to  us  ;  but  it  ivould  be  quite  worth  while  to 
make  it  for  the  sake  of  facilitating  the  thousand  other 
calculations  which  we  are  continually  called  upon  to 
make,  involving  reductions  between  the  higher  denom 
inations  of  length  and  the  lower. 


38  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

ABSURDITY  OF  THE  NUMERICAL  RELATIONS  BETWEEN  THE 
DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS  OF  MEASURE  AND  WEIGHT 
IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Whether  we  ever  adopt  a  new  linear  base  for  our 
metrological  system  or  not,  every  consideration  both  of 
logic  and  of  convenience  demands  that  we  should  re 
form  the  absurd  numerical  relations  in  which  our  dif 
ferent  denominations,  especially  of  length,  surface  and 
capacity,  stand  to  each  other.  Mention  has  been  made 
of  the  mile,  the  rod,  the  yard,  and  the  foot.  Along 
with  these  we  may  take  also  the  chain  of  sixty-six 
feet,  divided  into  links  of  which  each  one  is  seven 
inches  and  ninety-two-hundredths,  while  itself  is  the 
eightieth  part  of  a  mile. 

As  to  surface,  our  square  yard  is  nine  square  feet  ; 
our  square  rod  is  30?  square  yards,  or  2721  square 
feet ;  and  the  acre,  our  agrarian  unit,  is  160  square 
rods,  or  4,840  square  yards,  or  43,560  square  feet.  It 
would  be  difficult  for  human  ingenuity  to  contrive 
anything  more  inconvenient  or  less  rational  than  this. 

As  to  capacity,  whether  liquid  or  dry,  though  the  re 
lations  of  the  several  denominations  to  each  other  are 
tolerably  simple,  yet  their  relations  to  the  standard  of 
length,  which  is,  or  ought  to  be,  the  fundamental  base 
of  the  system,  are  as  abnormal  as  it  is  possible  to  make 
them.  Our  gallon  is  231  cubic  inches  =  0.13368  of  a 
cubic  foot ;  and  our  bushel  is  2,150.42  cubic  inches  — 
1.244456  cubic  feet.  And  our  unit  of  weight  has  no 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  39 

relation  whatever  expressible  in  simple  numbers  which 
the  mind  can  grasp,  to  our  measures  of  capacity  or  of 
length  ;  for  while  it  is  customary  to  say  that  a  cubic 
foot  of  water  weighs  one  thousand  ounces,  the  relation 
established  forty  years  ago  by  our  bureau  of  weights 
and  measures,  under  authority  of  law,  makes  the  gal 
lon  measure  of  distilled  water  at  the  temperature  of 
maximum  density,  viz.,  3 9°. 8  F.,  and  at  thirty  inches 
of  the  barometer,  to  weigh  58,372.1754  grains,  or 
8.3388822  commercial  or  avoirdupois  pounds  ;  and  re 
quires  also  that  the  standard  or  Winchester  bushel  of 
2,150.42  cubic  inches  shall  hold,  under  the  same  cir 
cumstances,  543,391.89  grains,  or  77.627413  avoirdu 
pois  pounds*  ;  from  either  or  both  of  which  determi 
nations  it  appears  that  the  weight  of  a  cubic  foot  of 
water,  at  maximum  density,  is  only  998.0667  ounces, 
instead  of  1,000  ounces  ;  while,  if  we  take  the  water 
at  the  ordinary  temperature  of  the  atmosphere,  say 
62°  F.,  as  prescribed  by  the  British  statute  on  the 
subject,  the  cubic  foot  weighs  but  997.172  ounces. 

Here  are  irregularities  and  imperfections,  to  the  cor 
rection  of  which  it  would  be  well  if  we  would  address 
ourselves,  in  our  own  immediate  interest  and  that  of 
our  people  at  home  merely,  and  without  reference  to 
our  relations  with  other  peoples.  Exact  calculations, 
for  instance,  in  which  weights  are  to  be  deduced  from 
volumes,  or  volumes  from  weights,  are  effected  under 
our  system  only  at  the  expense  of  much  weary  labor, 

*  The   determination   of   the   bushel,   however,  by  weight,  allows   it   only 
2150.4  cubic  inches.     See  APPENDIX  B,  Note  1. 


40  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

of  which  the  necessity  is  artificially  laid  upon  us  by 
this  tyranny  to  which  we  are  born.  For  rude  calcula 
tions  we  call,  indeed,  the  cubic  foot  of  standard  water 
one  thousand  ounces,  or  sixty-two  and  a  half  pounds  ; 
but  for  any  delicate  determination,  we  must  take  the 
cubic  foot  at  436,654.1952  grains,  and  the  cubic  inch 
at  252.6934  grains,  numbers  which,  at  whatever  incon 
venience,  the  man  of  science  finds  himself  continually 
obliged  to  employ  in  multiplication  and  division,  to  the 
great  waste  of  his  time  and  expense  of  his  strength.* 

IS    IT    POSSIBLE    TO    SECURE    GENERAL    COMMENSURABILITY 
OF    UNIT     BASES? 

Now  before  directly  considering  the  special  question 
whether  the  metric  system  of  weights  and  measures 
ought  to  be  adopted  in  this  country,  it  is  proper  to 
consider,  and  it  seems  to  me  to  be.  a  duty  to  consider, 
whether  it  is  possible  for  us  to  contribute  anything  to 
the  important  object  of  bringing  the  bases  of  the 
metrological  systems  of  the  world  into  relations  of 
commensurability.  If  these  bases  can  be  made  com 
mensurable,  we  shall  have  accomplished  something  al 
most  as  important  as  to  have  established  absolute  iden 
tity  ;  and,  indeed,  under  these  circumstances,  identity, 
it  may  easily  be  believed,  will  not  be  slow  to  follow. 
Who  can  doubt,  for  instance,  that  Switzerland,  having 
adopted  values  for  her  units  which  are  in  extremely 
simple  relations  to  the  metric  units,  will  sooner  or  later 

*  See  APPENDIX  B,  for  an  examination  of  the  probable  accuracy  of  these 
values. 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  41 

adopt  the  metric  units  themselves.  It  is  what  the 
states  of  Northern  Germany  recently  resolved  to  do 
after  an  experience  very  similar.  These  several  states 
had  all,  previously  to  the  formation  of  the  Zollverein, 
their  independent  systems  of  weights  and  measures. 
When  that  treaty  was  entered  into,  the  importance  of 
a  common  system  for  custom-house  purposes  was 
promptly  perceived  ;  and  hence  a  Zollverein  pound 
was  adopted,  having  the  weight  of  five  hundred 
grammes.  Several  of  these  states,  among  them  Prus 
sia,  Baden,  Hesse-Darmstadt  and  Wurtemberg,  found 
it  expedient  at  a  later  period  to  adopt  this  weight  for 
their  domestic  as  well  as  for  their  external  commerce. 
And  after  the  Austro-Prussian  war  of  1866,  and  the 
formation  of  a  closer  union  between  the  states  north 
of  the  Maine  under  the  name  of  the  North  German 
Confederation,  the  desirability  of  a  common  metro- 
logical  system  for  all  the  members  of  the  confederation 
seemed  so  great,  that  a  law  was  finally  passed  by  the 
Reichstag,  which  was  publicly  proclaimed  by  the  king 
in  August,  1868,  by  which  the  metric  system  is  adopt 
ed  in  full,  and  made  the  legal  system  for  North  Ger 
many  from  and  after  January  1,  1872.  As  the  states 
of  southern  Germany  were  no  less  advanced  than  those 
of  northern,  in  the  measures  they  had  taken  previously 
to  their  absorption  into  the  empire,  for  the  assimilation 
of  their  weights  and  measures  to  those  of  the  metric 
system,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  law  of  1868, 
just  mentioned,  will  be  extended  over  them  also. 


42  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

Thus  it  appears  that  when  different  metrological  sys 
tems  approach  each  other  so  far  as  to  become  commen 
surable  in  their  fundamental  units,  there  is  a  drift 
towards  identity  which  becomes  at  length  irresistible. 

THE  WORLD  WILL  HAVE  A  COMMON  SYSTEM  OF  WEIGHTS 
AND  MEASURES  ;  THE  CHOICE  MUST  LIE  BETWEEN  OUR 
OWN  AND  THE  METRIC. 

Are  we  willing  to  do  anything  to  bring  our  own 
system  into  relations  of  commensurability  with  those 
of  the  rest  of  the  world  ?  If  so,  the  question  second  in 
order  comes  up,  what  efforts  are  there  in  our  power  to 
make,  which  are  likely  to  advance  the  object,  and 
what  are  likely  to  be  fruitless?  It  may  be  well  to 
state,  in  the  very  outset,  so  as  to  bring  the  really  vital 
question  directly  before  us,  that  except  the  metric 
system  and  that  which  we  use  ourselves,  no  other  ex 
isting  and  no  other  likely  to  exist,  can  be  advocated  as 
having  the  least  claim  to  become  the  system  of  the 
world.  One  of  these,  therefore,  must  jsooner  or  later 
prevail ;  for  no  man  not  totally  regardless  of  the  his 
tory  of  the  past,  and  not  absolutely  blind  to  what  is 
taking  place  under  his  own  eyes  in  the  present,  can 
possibly  pretend  to  believe  that  the  world  is  to  be  for 
ever  without  a  uniform  system  of  weights  and  measures. 
At  the  universal  exposition  of  1867,  in  Paris,  thirteen 
measures  of  length  from  different  countries  were  ex 
hibited  under  the  name  of  foot,  or  its  equivalent ;  but 
among  these  there  were  only  eight  values  essentially 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  43 

different ;  and  two  of  these  were  metric.  Yet  after 
giving  some  attention  to  this  subject  without  pretend 
ing  to  exhaust  it,  I  have  found  more  than  one  hundred 
foot-measures,  each  differing  more  or  less  from  all  the 
rest  in  value,  which  have  been  in  use  at  one  time  or 
another  at  one  part  or  another  of  Europe.  Similar 
remarks  might  be  made  of  the  units  of  weight  and 
capacity.  There  has  therefore  been  large  progress 
made  toward  uniformity,  and  the  most  important  steps 
and  the  most  significant  steps  are  those  which  have 
been  taken  within  our  own  century.  We  cannot  sup 
pose  that  this  progress  is  going  to  be  arrested  at  the 
point  which  it  has  now  reached.  Of  the  two  systems 
therefore  just  now  indicated  as  the  systems  between 
which  the  world  must  choose,  unless  in  regard  to  this 
matter  it  shall  henceforth  stand  still  forever,  one  or 
the  other  must  sooner  or  later  prevail.  Which  shall 
it  be  ?  Which  is  it  likely  to  be  ? 

ABRUPTNESS    OF    THE    INTRODUCTION    OF     THE    METRIC 
SYSTEM    INTO    FRANCE. 

At  the  close  of  the  last  century  the  metric  system 
was  thrust  upon  France,  under  circumstances  of  disad 
vantage  and  with  an  imperfect  success  which  Mr. 
ADAMS  has  very  eloquently  described  in  his  able  report 
of  1821,  which  you  have  caused  to  be  reprinted. 
Though  the  commission  by  which  the  system  was 
matured  was  as  far  international  as  it  was  possible  in 
the  then  existing  political  and  military  condition  of 


44  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

Europe  to  make  it,  representatives  being  present  not 
only  from  France,  but  also  from  the  Netherlands,  Den 
mark,  Sweden,  Spain,  Switzerland,  Sardinia,  Rome, 
and  the  Cisalpine  and  Ligurian  Republics  ;  yet  no 
government  except  the  French  spontaneously  adopted, 
and  endeavored  to  apply  in  practice,  the  results  of 
their  labors.  The  conquests  of  the  first  empire  carried 
the  system  forcibly  into  the  Low  Countries,  into  por 
tions  of  Germany,  into  Italy  and  into  the  Iberian 
peninsula  ;  but  the  difficulties  which  it  met  with  there 
were  in  general  greater  than  at  home  ;  not  only  be 
cause  the  manner  of  its  introduction  did  violence  to 
men's  established  habits  of  thought,  but  because  its 
existence  was  a  badge  of  subjugation  and  a  perpetual 
reminder  of  the  national  humiliation  of  those  who 
were  compelled  to  use  it.  These  all  with  one  accord, 
therefore,  took  advantage  of  the  downfall  of  the  em 
pire,  to  throw  it  promptly  off.  Nor  even  in  France, 
presented  as  it  was  to  the  people  without  any  adequate 
education  as  to  its  characteristic  features,  or  any  suffi 
cient  allowance  of  time  to  permit  them  to  become 
familiar  with  its  details,  was  it  established  without  a 
struggle  against  inveterate  habits  and  rooted  prejudices 
continued  through  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century. 

SUBSIDENCE    OF    OPPOSITION    TO    THE    SYSTEM. 

Long  before  the  termination  of  this  struggle,  how 
ever,  the  aversion  to  the  system  in  the  countries 
foreign  to  France  to  which  it  had  been  carried  during 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  45 

the  empire,  began  sensibly  to  subside,  and  in  the 
Netherlands  whose  intimate  relations  with  France  had 
caused  it  there  to  take  a  deeper  root  than  elsewhere,  it 
was  actually  re-established  as  early  as  1817.  It  was 
re-established,  that  is  to  say,  in  all  particulars  except 
the  nomenclature  ;  but  while  the  metric  units  and  the 
metric  decimal  relations  were  adopted,  the  ancient 
names  of  weights  and  measures  were  retained.  Bel 
gium,  however,  which  was  for  a  time  a  part  of  France, 
employed  the  nomenclature  also  ;  the  old  names  were 
preserved  in  Holland  till  April,  1869,  when  they  were 
at  length  abandoned. 

The  condition  of  things,  therefore,  at  the  time  when 
Mr.  ADAMS  wrote  may  be  thus  described.  A  quarter 
of  a  century  had  passed  and  yet  the  system  was  not 
yet  firmly  established  in  its  own  home  ;  it  had  been 
rejected  generally  by  the  neighboring  peoples  who  had 
tried  it ;  and  its  chances  of  success  in  the  eyes  of  the  dis 
interested  spectators  of  the  experiment  appeared,  as 
may.be  gathered  from  Mr.  ADAMS'S  own  report,  to  be 
as  nearly  as  possible  at  zero.  Since  that  period  just  one 
half  a  century  has  passed,  and  the  aspect  of  things  has 
bravely  changed.  One  third  part  only  of  this  period 
sufficed  for  the  subsidence  of  all  the  imputed  disaffec 
tion  of  France  ;  and  in  the  Netherlands,  as  we  have  seen, 
this  disaffection,  if  it  was  ever  strong,  died  out  much 
earlier.  From  the  year  1837  onward,  the  people  of 
those  two  countries  have  not  only  been  reconciled  to  the 
system,  but  have  been  warmly  attached  to  it.  The  neigh- 


46  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

boring  peoples  upon  whom  it  had  been  early  imposed 
by  force,  and  who  had  indignantly  thrown  it  off,  have 
all  voluntarily  re-adopted  it.  That  early  attempt  to 
coerce  them  into  its  acceptance,  while  it  roused  every 
instinct  of  their  natures  to  resistance,  had  at  least  the 
effect  to  educate  them  to  a  knowledge  of  what  it  was. 
And  the  acquaintance  which  they  thus  formed  of  its 
merits,  produced,  when  passion  had  subsided,  its 
natural  result  in  the  re-establishment  of  the  system  by 
their  own  free  choice. 

ACCEPTANCE    OF    THE    SYSTEM    BY    EUROPEAN    STATES    SUC 
CESSIVELY. 

From  information  obtained  at  the  universal  exposi 
tion  of  1867,  where  a  special  pavilion  was  set  apart  for 
the  display  of  the  standards  of  weight,  measure,  and 
money  of  all  nations,  officially  authenticated,  I  am  able 
to  state  some  particulars  as  to  the  progress  of  this 
great  movement  toward  metrological  uniformity. 
First  in  the  order  of  time  after  France,  Holland,  and 
Belgium,  came  the  kingdom  of  Greece,  which  adopted 
the  metric  system  of  weights  and  measures  as  early  as 
September,  1836.  A  little  earlier  than  this  (March, 
1833)  had  been  formed  the  customs  union  or  Zollve- 
rein,  which  I  have  already  mentioned,  among  the 
German  States,  embracing,  originally,  Prussia,  Saxony, 
Bavaria,  Wurtemberg,  and  Hesse  Cassel ;  but  ulti 
mately  including  all  the  states  of  the  German 
Bund  except  Austria,  Lichtenstein,  Holstein,  the  two 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  47 

Mecklenburgs,  Hamburg,  Lubeck,  and  Bremen.  This 
was  established  for  the  purpose  of  doing  away  with 
the  serious  obstruction  to  commerce  interposed  by  the 
existence  of  numerous  and  neighboring  custom-house 
frontiers  ;  but  in  order  that  it  might  not  create  as 
much  trouble  as  it  removed,  it  adopted,  as  I  have 
mentioned  already,  a  common  unit  of  weight,  having 
the  metrical  value  of  five  hundred  grammes,  or  half  a 
kilogramme.  This,  which  first  came  into  use  on  the 
first  of  January,  1840,  was  found  so  convenient  that  it 
subsequently  became  the  national  as  well  as  the  inter 
national  pound  in  several  of  the  principal  states  and 
many  of  the  smaller  ;  as,  for  instance,  in  Prussia,  Wur- 
temberg,  Baden,  and  Hesse  Darmstadt. 

In  some,  as  in  Baden  and  Hesse  Darmstadt,  metri 
cal  values  were  also  given  to  the  unit  of  length,  which 
was  still  called  the  fuss,  though  the  old  fuss  was  abol 
ished  ;  and  the  duodecimal  subdivision  was  at  the  same 
time  abandoned.  Others  of  these  states  which  still 
retained  the  values  of  the  fuss  to  which  they  were 
accustomed,  perceiving  the  great  superiority,  in  respect 
to  convenience,  of  the  decimal  over  the  duodecimal 
ratio,  also  abolished  the  inch,  and  divided  the  foot  into 
tenths  and  hundredths.  Among  these  may  be  named 
Bavaria,  Prussia,  and  Wurtemberg.  In  Italy,  a  law 
of  1845  brought  the  metric  system  fully  into  force  in 
the  kingdom  of  Sardinia  from  the  first  of  January, 
1850.  It  was  established  in  the  Pontifical  States  soon 
after  ;  and,  by  a  law  passed  July  28,  1861,  was  ex- 


48  THE   METRIC   SYSTEM   OF 

tended  over  the  entire  Italian  peninsula,  and  also  over 
Sicily  from  and  after  the  first  of  January,  1863. 

Yery  shortly  after  the  revolutionary  excitements  of 
1848,  the  empire  of  Austria,  by  treaty  with  Prussia, 
became  connected  with  the  Zollverein,  and  introduced 
the  metrical  weights  and  measures  of  that  union  into 
all  the  custom-houses  of  her  extended  frontier  ;  nor  has 
the  course  of  events,  military  or  political,  of  recent 
years,  produced  in  that  empire  any  change  in  this 
respect.  The  action  of  the  North  German  Confedera 
tion,  by  which  the  metric  system  in  full  became  the 
system  of  all  the  Northern  states,  for  domestic  as  well 
as  for  external  uses,  took  place  in  1868,  as  has  been 
already  mentioned.  In  the  mean  time,  other  states, 
not  connected  with  the  Zollverein,  began  to  fall  in  with 
the  drift  now  becoming  so  general.  In  1851  took 
place  the  legislation  in  Switzerland  above  described, 
which  gave  to  that  confederation  a  metric  system  of 
weights  and  measures  after  1856. 

In  1852,  Denmark  adopted  the  metric  pound  of  500 
grammes,  decimally  divided.  In  1855,  Sweden,  with 
out  changing  the  values  of  her  standard  units,  intro 
duced  partially  the  principle  of  decimal  derivation  for 
the  inferior  and  superior  denominations  ;  and  this,  by 
more  recent  enactments,  reduced  in  1865  to  a  single 
comprehensive  law,  she  has  extended  through  her 
whole  system.  In  the  following  year,  1866,  Norway, 
in  regard  to  this  matter,  followed  the  example  of  her 
sister  kingdom.  In  Spain  and  her  colonies,  the  metric 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  49 

system  was  established  by  law  in  1859,  the  names  of 
the  units  having  been  partially  transformed  to  bring 
them  into  harmony  with  the  language — the  metre  being 
called  the  metro,  the  litre  the  litro,  etc.  In  1864,  the 
metric  system  was  established  in  Portugal  ;  and  in  the 
same  year  a  law  was  passed  in  the  principality  of 
Roumania  prescribing  the  use  of  the  system  in  that  prin 
cipality  from  and  after  the  first  day  of  January,  1865. 
Even  Turkey  has  recently  made  a  beginning  toward 
bringing  her  system  into  harmony  with  that  which  is  now 
so  rapidly  becoming  the  system  of  all  continental  Europe, 
by  giving  to  her  unit  of  length,  the  archine,  the  value 
of  seventy-five  centimetres,  or  three-quarters  of  a 
metre.  In  Great  Britain,  by  an  act  of  Parliament 
passed  in  1864,  the  metric  system  is  legalized,  though 
it  has  not  been  made  compulsory.  In  1868,  another 
act,  making  the  metric  the  exclusive  system  for  Great 
Britain,  passed  its  second  reading  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  having  thus  reached  a  stage  of  legislation 
where  the  final  passage  of  a  bill  is  commonly  regarded 
as  assured,  when  it  was  withdrawn  by  its  originators, 
as  yet  premature  ;  but  the  fact  of  this  remarkable  suc 
cess  is  a  signal  evidence  of  the  state  of  opinion  among 
the  enlightened  classes  of  the  British  people,*  and  a 
plain  premonition  of  what  Great  Britain  will  sooner  or 
later  do. 

*  For  a  more  full   account  of  British  legislation  in  regard  to  the  Metric 
System,  see  APPENDIX  C. 


50  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

LEGISLATION    IN    REGARD    TO    THE    SYSTEM    ON    THE 
AMERICAN    CONTINENT. 

In  our  own  country  the  use  of  the  metric  system  in 
business  transactions  was  legalized  by  act  of  Congress  of 
July  27, 1866.  Another  act,  which  was  passed  almost 
simultaneously  with  this,  provided  that  postages  should 
be  charged  in  accordance  with  a  scale  of  metric  weights  ; 
a  letter  weighing  fifteen  grammes  or  less  to  be  charge 
able  with  but  one  rate  of  postage.  This  provision  of 
law,  which  was  practically  in  favor  of  the  people  who 
use  the  post-office  to  a  sensible  degree,  fifteen  grammes 
exceeding  the  previously  legal  postage  weight  by  nearly 
thirteen  grains,  or  about  one-seventeenth  part,  was,  as 
I  am  informed,  by  the  effect  of  a  statute  passed  the 
following  day,  quite  unintentionally  repealed.  This 
second  act  was  designed  to  regulate  postage  with  foreign 
countries,  and  it  provided  that,  for  postal  purposes,  one 
half  ounce  avoirdupois  should  be  deemed  and  taken  to 
be  the  equivalent  of  fifteen  grammes.  The  department 
has  applied  this  provision  to  the  act  of  the  preceding 
day  ;  so  that  we  have  Congress  going  through  with  the 
solemn  farce  of  enacting  that  the  limiting  weight  of  a 
single  letter  shall  be  fifteen  grammes,  but  then  that 
these  fifteen  grammes  shall  be  deemed  and  taken  to  be 
only  half  an  ounce. 

Undoubtedly  the  stationery  on  which  these  pro 
visions  of  law  were  written  must  be  deemed  and  taken 
to  be  a  dead  loss  to  the  nation.  But  could  anything 
more  forcibly  illustrate  the  liability  to  error  and  con- 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  51 

fusion  arising  out  of  diversity  of  systems  of  weight  and 
measure,  than  this  example  wherein  we  see  even  our 
highest  legislative  body,  when  entangled  in  the  maze, 
incapable  of  making  laws  to  express  its  own  inten 
tions  ? 

In  South  America,  the  metric  system  has  been 
adopted  by  Brazil  (to  take  full  effect  in  1873),  in  the1 
Argentine  Republic  (1863),  in  Uruguay  (1862),  in 
Peru  (1863),  in  Chili  (1848),  in  Ecuador  (1856),  and 
in  New  Granada  (1863).  In  North  America,  it  was 
established  by  law  in  Mexico  in  1856.  According  to 
the  best  authorities  I  have  been  able  to  find,  the  total 
population  of  Europe  approaches  298,000,000,  of  whom 
about  135,000,000  have  already  accepted  the  metric 
system  in  all  its  details,  or  have  given  to  all  the  stand 
ard  units  of  their  own  systems,  metric  values.  Add  to 
these  25,000,000  more  in  Mexico  and  South  America, 
and  we  have  a  total  of  160,000,000  of  civilized  people 
in  Christian  lands  who  are  irrevocably  committed  to 
the  metric  system  ;  while  a  considerable  proportion  of 
the  rest  have  made  progress  toward  this  system  by 
adopting  metric  values  in  part,  like  Denmark,  and 
Austria,  and  Turkey;  or  by  adopting  the  decimal  law  of 
derivation  without  as  yet  the  metric  values,  like  Swe 
den  :  while  there  are  seventy  millions  more,  the  people 
of  the  British  Islands  and  of  the  United  States,  who 
have  made  the  use  of  the  denominations  of  the  system 
lawful  in  all  business  transactions  within  their  territory.* 

*  For  more  exact  statistics  on  this  subject,  see  APPENDIX  D' 


52  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

PAST  METROLOGICAL  REFORMS  NOT  ATTRIBUTABLE  TO 
POLITICAL  CAUSES,  BUT  TO  THE  FORCE  OF  PUBLIC 
OPINION. 

All  this  has  been  accomplished  by  the  pressure  of 
public  opinion  ;  it  has  been  distinctively  a  movement 
of  the  people  and  not  of  governments  ;  it  is  a  social 
rather  than  a  political  phenomenon.  When  the  metric 
system  was  first  introduced  into  France,  the  -pressure 
came  from  above,  and  was  resisted  by  those  upon  whom 
it  pressed.  The  people  did  not  understand  the  system 
and  they  did  not  want  it.  In  the  discussions  which 
we  hear  going  on  about  us  concerning  it  at  the  present 
time,  the  opponents  of  the  system  seem  constantly  to 
assume  that  the  same  plan  is  to  be  pursued  to-day  ; 
and  that  there  exists  somewhere  an  insidious  design  to 
force  the  system  upon  peoples  whether  they  like  it  or 
not.  That,  I  take  it,  is  not  the  spirit  of  the  modern 
propaganda.  Neither  the  British  people  nor  the 
American  people  are  expected  to  accept  this  system 
unless  they  think  it  best ;  but  the  presumption  of 
some  of  us  is  that  they  will  sooner  or  later  think  it 
best. 

CAUSES    OF    THE    INDIFFERENCE    TO    METROLOGICAL  REFORM 
IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

But  why,  it  may  with  justice  be  inquired,  are  our 
people  so  far  behind  those  of  the  continent  of  Europe  in 
appreciating  the  value  of  the  metric  system  ?  This  is  to 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  53 

be  accounted  for  by  the  same  reasons  which  make  them 
comparatively  indifferent  to  the  existence  of  any  inter 
national  system  of  weights  and  measures.  In  a  large 
country  like  ours,  widely  separated  from  the  rest  of 
the  world,  the  inconvenience  of  metrological  diversity  is 
immediately  and  personally  felt  by  the  individual  citi 
zen  only  on  rare  occasions  ;  when,  for  example,  he 
travels  in  a  foreign  country,  or  when  in  his  own  he 
meets  a  foreigner  raw  to  our  institutions,  or  when  he 
attempts  to  obtain  some  exact  information  from  the 
publications  of  other  countries;  while  the  disadvan 
tages  to  which  it  daily  subjects  him  operate  in  a  man 
ner  so  indirect,  and  are  mixed  up,  too,  with  so  many 
other  matters,  that  he  fails  to  connect  them  with  their 
causes.  We  can  easily  understand  the  state  of  things 
which  would  exist  if  we  had  no  public  standard  of 
weights  and  measures  at  all ;  and  if  every  tradesman 
made  his  own  system,  and  sold  his  customer,  say,  so 
much  for  so  much.  This  plan  is  illustrated  in  Diedrich 
Knickerbocker's  account  of  the  dealings  of  the  early 
settlers  of  the  Nieuw  Nederlandts  with  the  Indians— 
"  every  Dutchman's  hand  weighed  a  pound,  and  every 
Dutchman's  foot  weighed  two  pounds."  The  incon 
veniences  and  uncertainty  of  trade  would  be  only  a 
little  less  if,  instead  of  having  as  many  systems  as  there 
are  tradesmen,  we  should  have  as  many  as  there  are 
villages.  If,  for  instance,  while  a  man  can  get  on  very 
comfortably  among  his  immediate  neighbors,  he  finds 
himself,  on  driving  four  or  five  miles,  entirely  at  sea 


,54  .THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

on  the  subject  of  quantities,  he  will  be  scarcely  able  to 
prosecute  any  business  of  magnitude  without  an 
amount  of  trouble  and  confusion  quite  intolerable. 
Enlarge  the  communities  within  which  common 
systems  prevail,  and  separate  them  more  widely 
from  those  which  employ  different  systems,  and  the 
evils  which,  in  the  original  supposition,  embarrassed 
individuals,  now  affect  the  transactions  which  take 
place  between  these  communities.  Operations  are 
larger,  and  they  are  mainly  conducted  by  a  particular 
class  ;  but  the  misapprehensions,  the  delays,  and  the 
increased  expense  attendant  on  these  operations,  are 
charged,  like  the  customs  duties,  upon  the  whole  com 
munity,  without  their  being  clearly  conscious  of  the 
fact.  Our  custom-houses,  and  our  great  importing 
houses,  are  compelled,  by  the  diversity  of  weights, 
measures,  and  moneys  with  which  they  have  to  deal, 
to  employ  an  immense  staff  of  computers,  whose  sole 
business  is  to  effect  transformations  of  values  upon  the 
invoices  of  the  commodities  which  pass  through  their 
hands  ;  and  the  salaries  of  all  these  employees  are  un 
doubtedly  paid  by  the  consumers  of  the  commodities. 

Now,  on  the  continent  of  Europe,  where,  in  the 
central  part  at  least,  the  territories  of  independent 
states  have  heretofore  been  small,  while  the  population 
is  dense,  the  evil  of  a  multiplicity  of  systems  of  weight 
and  measure,  and  of  custom-house  lines  occurring 
every  ten,  twenty,  or  thirty  miles,  has  been  felt  as,  of 
course,  we  can  never  feel  it ;  and,  therefore,  there  is 


WEIGHTS   AND    MEASURES.  55 

nothing  surprising  in  the  fact  that  the  people  of  those 
states  have  perceived  the  need  of  a  common  system  to 
be  pressing,  when  we  were  not  thinking  of  the  matter 
at  all.  Nor  is  it  any  more  surprising  that,  in  looking 
about  for  a  common  system,  and  finding  the  metric 
system  to  be  an  existing  system,  and  a  good  system, 
and,  above  all,  an  available  system,  and  the  only  one 
apparently  available  for  the  purpose,  they  should  have 
seized  upon  it,  and  legalized  it,  and  made  it  permanent, 
without  too  anxiously  concerning  themselves  with  the 
questions  whether  the  metre  would  not  have  been 
better  if  it  had  been  a  little  longer  or  a  little  shorter, 
or  if  it  had  represented  something  different  from  what 
it  does  represent,  or  whether,  in  fact,  it  does,  after  all, 
really  represent  any  thing  at  all. 

UNIVERSAL      PREVALENCE      OF      THE      SYSTEM     IN     EUROPE 

INEVITABLE. 

: 

Considering,  therefore,  the  nature  of  the  causes 
which  have  induced  one  hundred  and  thirty-five 
millions  of  the  people  of  Europe  to  adopt  the  metric 
system  ;  and  considering  furthermore  that  in  Den 
mark,  Sweden,  Norway,  Austria,  and  Turkey,  we  have 
fifty -five  millions  more  who  have  shown,  by  their 
legislation,  their  appreciation  of  the  merits  of  this 
system,  or  of  the  principles  on  which  it  is  founded  ;  it 
may,  I  think,  be  safely  said  that  the  universal  exten 
sion  of  this  system  over  the  continent  of  Europe  is 
only  a  question  of  time. 


56  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

THE    SCIENCE    OF    THE  WORLD  FAVORS  THE  METRIC  SYSTEM. 

Besides  the  causes  which  I  have  mentioned,  out  of 
which  the   important  changes   I   have  just  described 
have  grown,  it  is  to   be   remembered  that  there   are 
other  influences  of  a  very  powerful  description  actively 
at  work  to  recommend  the  metric  system  to  the  favor 
able  consideration  of  the   peoples  which  have  not  yet 
received  it.     The  principal  of  these   peoples  are  the 
English  speaking  nations,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Russian  empire.     Now,  for  a  very  long  period,  it  has 
been  true  that  the  great  body  of  the  scientific  men  of 
our  own  country,  of  Great  Britain,  and  of  Russia,  have 
been  thoroughly  impressed  with  the  value  of  the  metric 
system;  and  many  of  them  have  been  constantly  in  the 
habit  of  using  it.     That  there  has  been  here  and  there 
a    dissenter   may    be    admitted.     Here,  as    elsewhere, 
exceptio  probat  regulam.      But  a  dissenter  who,  like  Sir 
JOHN  HERSCHEL,  holds  that  the  system  is  good,  but 
that  the  base  ought  to   have  been  a  ten-millionth  part 
of  something  else,  rather  than  of  a   quadrant  of  the 
meridian,  is  not  much  of  a  dissenter  after  all ;  and  one 
who,  like   Prof.  PIAZZI  SMYTH,  bases  his  metrological 
theories  on  religious  grounds,  and  prefers  the  pyramid- 
inch  as  his  standard,  as  a  matter  of  conscience,  is  not 
likely  to  concentrate  around  him  a  very  powerful  party 
of  opposition. 

Scientific  associations   in  the   countries  just  named 
have  memorialized  their  governments  in  favor  of  the 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  57 

metric  system.  The  British  Association  for  the  Ad 
vancement  of  Science  has  done  this  repeatedly,  and 
the  Imperial  Academy  of  Sciences  of  St.  Petersburg 
has  done  it  likewise.  In  the  year  1866,  the  National 
Academy  of  Sciences  of  the  United  States,  on  the  re 
port  of  a  committee  having  Prof.  HENRY,  of  the  Smith 
sonian  Institution,  at  its  head,  (a  committee  which  had 
had  for  two  years  the  subject  in  its  charge),  addressed 
a  memorial  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  ex 
pressing  the  sense  of  the  Academy  as  to  the  importance 
of  establishing  an  international  system  of  weights  and 
measures,  and  recommending  the  metric  system  as  the 
best  existing. 

The  scientific  journals,  throughout  the  world,  give 
evidence  of  the  growing  practice  of  scientific  investi 
gators  of  using  metric  values  in  their  experiments,  in 
their  calculations,  and  in  their  writings.  This  began 
in  Germany  very  early.  I  find  it  to  be  true  of  POG- 
GENDORFF'S  Annalen  so  long  ago  as  the  year  1800.  At 
the  present  time  it  is  next  to  impossible  to  find  any 
other  system  of  weights  and  measures  but  the  metric 
so  much  as  occasionally  named  in  any  of  the  publica 
tions  devoted  to  physics  and  chemistry  in  all  Germany. 
Almost  the  same  thing  is  true  of  the  scientific  period 
icals  of  Russia,  of  Austria,  of  Denmark,  and  of  Sweden. 
I  have  very  recently  looked  through  the  principal 
journals  of  this  class,  published  in  the  countries  just 
named,  and  what  I  assert  of  them,  I  assert  from  per 
sonal  knowledge.  Men  of  science  have  adopted  this 


58  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

system,  not  only  because  of  their  approval  of  its  prin 
ciples,  but  because  it  is  a  labor-saving  machine  of 
immense  capabilities.  If  you  look  into  our  own 
scientific  journals  and  those  of  Great  Britain,  you  will 
find  that,  what  has  just  been  remarked  of  the  journals 
of  the  continent,  is  true  to  a  considerable  extent  of 
them  also  ;  and  to  an  extent  constantly  increasing. 
Our  analytic  chemists  use  the  metric  system  altogether; 
and  with  our  physicists  its  use  is  becoming  every  day 
more  general.  With  the  science  of  the  world  on  its 
side,  therefore,  the  metric  system  has  a  powerful  ally, 
which,  added  to  the  influence  of  the  material  interests 
enlisted  in  its  favor,  must  make  its  final  triumph  in 
evitable. 

THE    SOCIAL    SCIENCE    ORGANIZATIONS  FAVOR  THE    SYSTEM. 

It  will  be  understood  that  the  scientific  associations 
and  the  scientific  men  to  whom  reference  is  here  made, 
are  those  who  deal  with  the  exact  sciences,  or  employ 
themselves  with  material  nature.  Truth  is  the  object 
of  their  search;  with  the  uses  of  the  truth  discovered, 
or  its  relations  to  the  human  race,  they  do  not  concern 
themselves.  There  is,  however,  another  class  of  in 
quirers,  one  to  which  I  have  earlier  referred,  whose 
influence  on  the  question  before  us  is  destined  to  be 
powerfully  felt,  who  have  created  in  these  modern 
times  a  new  science  of  their  own,  taking  as  their  sub 
ject  precisely  what  the  former  class  omits — the  rela- 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  59 

tions  of  truth  to  humanity.  In  the  scope  of  their 
inquiries,  they  are  most  widely  comprehensive,  em 
bracing  equally  all  truth — the  moral  and  the  psychol 
ogical  no  less  than  the  physical.  They  call  their 
science  social  science ;  it  might  be  called  the  philosophy 
of  philanthropy,  for  its  object  is  to  discover  and  remove 
the  causes  of  human  wretchedness,  whether  they  be 
material,  political,  mental,  or  moral ;  and  to  place  the 
human  race  in  circumstances  where  it  may  work  out 
for  itself  a  destiny  the  noblest  of  which  it  is  by  nature 
capable.  It  is  not  through  a  merely  native  taste  or 
bias,  that  these  men  pursue  the  science  they  have 
created.  Their  science  is  to  them  more  than  a  love — 
it  is  a  religion.  Their  impelling  principle  is  deeper 
than  enthusiasm — it  is  an  earnest  sense  of  duty.  These 
men,  therefore,  belong  to  that  class  whose  characters 
command  the  highest  respect,  and  whose  opinions 
carry  the  largest  weight  among  their  fellow-men. 
They,  too,  like  others,  have  availed  themselves  of  the 
powerful  machinery  of  associated  effort.  In  many 
enlightened  lands,  social  science  associations  hold  their 
periodical  meetings,  and  by  means  of  the  reports  of 
their  discussions  scattered  among  the  people  through 
the  public  prints,  and  the  wide  circulation  of  their  own 
memoirs  and  journals,  powerfully  impress  the  public 
mind.  Within  the  past  ten  or  fifteen  years,  there  has 
sprung  up,  in  addition  to  the  national  organizations 
here  referred  to,  an  international  social  science  asso 
ciation  also,  composed  of  men  of  every  land,  many  of 


60  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

them  men  whose  names  have  a  world-wide  celebrity. 
The  last  meeting  of  this  influential  body  was  held  in 
1867;  the  next  is  to  assemble  in  England,  during  the 
ensuing  fall.  Among  other  measures  adopted  at  the 
meeting  preceding  the  last,  was  the  appointment  of  a 
committee  to  draw  up  a  complete  code  of  international 
law,  to  be  presented  for  acceptance  to  the  governments 
of  all  nations,  and  to  be  binding  upon  all  such  as  shall 
assent  to  its  provisions.  The  code  is  to  comprehend 
two  grand  divisions,  presenting  the  rights  and  duties 
of  nations,  first  in  peace,  and  secondly  in  war.  The 
first  of  these  divisions,  relating  to  peace,  is  now  com 
plete,  and  will  be  presented  to  the  association  at  the 
ensuing  meeting.  I  am  authoritatively  informed  that 
it  embraces  provisions  making  the  metric  system  of 
weights  and  measures  the  common  system  for  all  the 
nations  accepting  the  code;  and  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  association  will  cordially  concur  with  their 
committee  as  to  these  provisions.  The  social  science 
associations  may  therefore  be  regarded  as  another 
powerful  influence,  silently  acting  throughout  every 
corner  of  every  civilized  land,  and  throwing  its  whole 
strength  in  favor  of  the  universal  adoption  of  the 
metric  system  of  weights  and  measures. 

THE  SYSTEM  HAS  BEEN  RECOMMENDED  BY  INTERNATIONAL 
CONFERENCES. 

There  are  other  influences  co-operating  with  this,  in 
which    the    political   principle  is    combined   with   the 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  61 

social.  The  importance  of  endeavoring,  in  some  way 
or  other,  to  arrive  at  a  common  system  of  moneys, 
weights,  and  measures,  has  been  felt  by  governments 
to  be  sufficient  to  justify  the  calling  of  international  con 
ferences  to  discuss  this  very  thing.  Now,  though  these 
conferences  have  not  resulted  as  yet  in  bringing  actually 
to  pass  the  object  for  which  they  were  summoned,  still 
they  have  furnished  an  independent  and  an  important 
indication  of  the  extent  to  which  public  opinion  every 
where  is  turning  toward  the  metric  system,  as  destined 
inevitably  to  be  at  length  the  system  of  all  mankind. 
For  while  the  money  question  has  invariably  elicited  a 
large  variety  of  opinion,  and  while  an  agreement  of  all 
the  delegates  upon  any  one  proposition  for  the  unifica 
tion  of  the  coinage  of  the  world  has  been  found  ex 
tremely  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  secure,  yet,  as  to 
the  question  of  weights  and  measures,  there  has  been 
no  difficulty  whatever.  At  the  Paris  conference  of  1867, 
for  example,  twenty-two  nations  were  represented, 
including  the  non-metric  nations,  Russia,  Austria, 
Sweden,  Norway,  Denmark,  Great  Britain,  the  United 
States,  and  Turkey.  The  report  of  the  committee  in 
favor  of  the  metric  system  was  an  admirable  document, 
drawn  up  by  the  celebrated  DE  JACOBI,  of  St.  Peters 
burg  ;  and  it  received  the  absolutely  unanimous  con 
currence  of  all  the  delegates  of  all  the  nations.  It  is 
impossible  to  regard  a  phenomenon  of  this  kind  with 
out  seeing  in  it  both  an  indication  and  an  influence — • 
an  indication  showing  the  march  of  opinion  hitherto, 


62  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

and  an   influence  which  cannot  fail  to  be  felt  in  ac 
celerating  this  march. 

THE       INTERNATIONAL      STATISTICAL      CONGRESSES       HAVE 
ADOPTED    THE    SYSTEM. 

But  there  is  still  another  and  a  still  more  powerful 
influence,  uniting,  like  that  last  mentioned,  the  social 
and  political  features,  which  has  been  gradually  taking 
shape  and  gathering  strength  within  the  past  twenty 
years,  which  is  also  destined  to  act  powerfully  in  favor 
of  the  speedy  creation  of  an  international  system  of 
weights  and  measures,  and  which  is  already  committed 
in  advance  to  the  metric  system  for  that  purpose.  In 
explanation  of  this  remark  I  will  state  that,  about 
twenty  years  ago,  there  was  assembled  at  Brussels,  on 
the  invitation  of  the  government  of  Belgium,  a  con 
vention  which  assumed  the  name  of  "  The  First  Inter 
national  Statistical  Congress.'7  This  body  consisted  of 
two  hundred  and  thirty-six  members,  who  were  about 
equally  divided  between  Belgium  and  foreign  coun 
tries,  thirty-five  being  delegates  appointed  by  govern 
ments.  This  first  convention,  held  in  1853,  has  been 
followed  by  six  others  ;  of  which  the  second  was  as 
sembled  in  Paris  in  1855  ;  the  third  at  Vienna,  in 
1857  ;  the  fourth  at  London,  in  1859  ;  the  fifth  at 
Berlin,  in  1863  ;  the  sixth  at  Florence,  in  1867  ;  and 
the  seventh  at  the  Hague,  in  1869.  The  spirit  in 
which  these  great  international  assemblages  origi 
nated,  is  explained  in  the  following  brief  extract 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  63 

from  the  report  of  Mr.  S.  B.  RUGGLES,  of  New  York, 
the  delegate  from  the  United  States*  to  the  convention 
of  1869,  at  the  Hague,  recently  published  by  order  of 
the  United  States  Senate.  "The  distinguished  pro 
moters  of  the  first  congress,  at  Brussels/'  says  Mr. 
RUGGLES,  "  had  seen  enough  of  modern  statemanship 
to  know  that  the  government  of  nations,  in  their  pres 
ent  state  of  material  progress,  cannot  be  wisely  con 
ducted  without  a  thorough  knowledge  of  quantities  ;" 
and  that  the  systematic  collection  and  philosophical 
arrangement  of  the  "quantities77  needed  for  showing 
the  general  condition  of  nations,  is  "an  indispensable 
preliminary  to  any  recommendation  by  an  international 
congress  of  any  measures  seeking  to  promote  the  gen 
eral  welfare.'7  In  accordance  with  this  spirit,  "the 
official  report  (or  '  compte  rendu')  of  the  congress  at 
Brussels  shows  its  labors  to  have  been  largely  devoted 
to  the  scientific  analysis  of  quantities,  in  subjects  inter 
esting  to  all  nations,  to  be  used  as  a  basis  of  a  uniform 
system  of  inquiries,  in  actually  collecting  the  necessary 
facts.77  And  in  like  manner  all  the  succeeding  con 
gresses  have  devoted  themselves  sedulously  to  the 
labor  of  bringing  together  every  description  of  facts 
obtainable,  in  regard  to  the  actual  wealth,  the  pro 
ductions  natural  and  artificial,  the  condition  of  indus 
try  and  commerce,  the  character  of  the  social  institu- 

*  Mr.  RUGGLES  also  ably  represented  the  United  States  in  the  fifth  congress, 
at  Berlin. 


64  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

tions,  and  other  matters  of  kindred  interest,  relating  to 
the  various  peoples  who  make  up  the  population  of  the 
globe.  The  results  of  such  inquiries  could  only  be 
made  available  for  any  useful  purpose,  on  the  con 
dition  that  all  the  "quantities"  so  ascertained  should 
be  reduced  to  a  form  in  which  they  could  be  com 
pared  ;  on  the  condition,  therefore,  that  they  should 
be  expressed  in  denominations  of  the  same  system  of 
weights  and  measures  ;  and,  accordingly,  it  has  been 
urgently  recommended  by  all  these  congresses  that  all 
statistical  statements  everywhere  should  be  made  in 
terms  of  the  metric  system.  The  seventh  and  most 
recent  of  these  assemblies,  moreover,  inaugurated  a 
work  which,  if  efficiently  prosecuted,  will  be  in  honor 
able  harmony  with  the  magnificence  of  the  idea  which 
originated  these  congresses  of  the  nations.  The  nature 
of  this  work  is  thus  stated  by  Mr.  RUGGLES  :  ' '  On  the 
last  day  of  the  session,  Dr.  ENGEL,  the  distinguished 
director  of  the  statistical  bureau  of  Prussia,  presented 
to  the  body,  in  general  assembly,  a  plan  of  great  com 
prehensiveness  and  importance,  which  had  been  ma 
tured  after  full  discussion  in  the  appropriate  section, 
and  conversation  with  most  of  the  governmental  dele 
gates.  It  provides  for  a  full  and  systematic  explora 
tion  of  the  whole  field  of  international  statistical  in 
quiry,  which  is  divided  for  that  purpose  under  twenty- 
four  different  heads,  each  to  be  the  subject  of  a  separ 
ate  investigation  by  the  delegates  or  members  from 
some  one  of  the  nations  to  be  selected,  and  which  is  to 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  65 

embrace  the  statistics  under  that  head  of  all  the 
nations.  This  great  work,  if  fully  carried  out,  will 
furnish,  in  convenient  encyclopedist^  form,  a  systema 
tic  series  of  carefully  prepared  reports  on  most  of  the 
subjects  of  highest  interest  to  the  statesmen  and  legis 
lators  of  the  different  nations.  Editions  of  at  least 
two  thousand  copies  of  each  report  are  to  be  published 
in  uniform  octavo  volumes,  under  regulations  pres 
ented  in  the  plan,  which  was  unanimously  adopted  by 
the  congress,  with  strong  expressions  of  approbation. " 
Without  the  metric  system,  the  vast  mass  of  in 
formation  thus  collected  would  be  unavailable — the 
encyclopedia  would  be  illegible.  This  system  has, 
therefore,  thus  become  something  more  than  a  mere 
instrumentality  in  the  service  of  statistical  science  ;  it 
has  become  even  an  integral  part  of  the  science  itself. 
Henceforth  the  two  are  so  irrevocably  wedded  that 
they  can  be  separated  no  more  forever. 

IMPORTANCE     OF     THE     INTERNATIONAL      STATISTICAL 
CONGRESS. 

The  "International  Statistical  Congress  "  may  now 
be  regarded  as  an  established  institution.  Its  eighth 
meeting  in  the  order  of  succession  will  be  held  some 
time  during  the  course  of  the  year  1871,  and  probably 
in  St.  Petersburg.  Already  the  influence  of  its  deliber 
ations,  of  the  published  results  of  its  labors,  and  of  the 
spirit  of  comprehensive  statesmanship  which  it  has 
inculcated  and  fostered,  is  beginning  to  be  sensibly 


66  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

felt,  and  with  each  successive  decade  of  years  it  will  be 
felt  with  a  power  continually  increasing,  in  educating 
the  minds  of  the  peoples,  and  in  moulding  the  coun 
sels  of  governments  into  harmony  with  the  great  prin 
ciple  that  nations  only  then  consult  their  truest  inter 
ests  when  they  consult  the  common  interests  of 
humanity. 

EARLIEST    SUGGESTION    OF    THIS    INSTITUTION    BY 
MR.    ADAMS. 

The  germ  idea  of  an  agency  which,  with  time,  has 
developed  itself  into  a  power  capable  of  controlling, 
and  destined  so  largely  to  control,  the  future  of  human 
history,  is  to  be  found  in  the  report  of  Mr.  ADAMS  to 
the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States 
Congress,  made  in  1821,  which  has  been  already  cited 
in  this  paper.  Though  this  report  discouraged  the 
adoption  of  the  metric  system  by  Congress,  and  though 
its  reasonings  had  the  effect  undoubtedly  to  impress 
the  popular  mind  in  this  country  with  the  conviction 
that  the  introduction  of  the  system  into  these  states  is 
hopeless,  yet  the  author  himself  was  as  deeply  imbued 
with  admiration  of  this  system,  considered  as  a  scien 
tific  creation,  as  the  warmest  of  its  advocates  ;  and  no 
one  felt  more  profoundly  than  he,  how  great  would  be 
the  boon  to  humanity,  if  one  uniform  system  of  weights, 
measures,  and  moneys  could  be  made  to  prevail  every 
where  throughout  the  world.  In  the  view  of  his  large 
and  statesman-like  intellect,  very  many  of  the  embar- 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  67 

rassments  which  attend  intercourse  between  nations, 
spring  from  the  selfish  and  narrow  legislation  which 
looks  only  to  the  immediate  interests  or  convenience 
of  particular  communities,  and  disregards  the  results 
to  the  great  family  of  man.  To  him,  all  nations  and 
all  races  are  brothers  by  blood,  inheriting  the  earth  as 
their  common  patrimony  ;  and  though,  in  the  existing 
state  of  human  society,  it  is  necessary  that  the  artificial 
lines  which  divide  states  from  each  other  should  be 
preserved,  it  is  eminently  desirable  that,  for  as  many 
purposes  as  possible,  they  should  be  kept  out  of  sight. 
He  therefore  proposed  that  the  President  of  the  United 
States  should  be  authorized  to  invite  the  government* 
of  the  several  states  having  diplomatic  relations  with 
that  of  the  Union,  to  appoint  delegates  to  a  congress 
of  nations,  charged  with  the  duty  of  deliberating  upon 
measures  likely  to  be  promotive  of  the  general  welfare  ; 
but,  foremost  and  especially,  upon  the  possibility  of 
establishing  a  uniform  system  of  weights  and  measures 
for  all  mankind.  That  this  important  proposition  was 
productive  of  no  immediate  result,  is  attributed  by  Mr. 
RUGGLES,  and  with  apparent  justice,  to  the  political 
condition  of  Europe  during  all  the  earlier  portion  of 
this  century ;  and  especially  to  that  compact  of  political 
rulers  for  the  suppression  of  liberal  thought,  and  the 
stifling  of  all  freedom  of  political  discussion,  which  the 
momentous  events  of  recent  history  have  since  shat 
tered,  known  as  "  The  Holy  Alliance.77  Happily,  how 
ever,  at  length,  to  use  the  vigorous  words  of  Mr. 


68  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

RUGGLES,  "We  find  the  germ  of  the  general  conven 
tion,  planted  by  the  far-seeing  sagacity  of  Mr.  ADAMS, 
in  1821,  though  slumbering  for  a  generation  beneath 
the  surface,  actually  fructifying  in  1853,  when  the  first 
general  assemblage  of  nations  by  government  delegates, 
and  really  international  in  its  objects,  was  convened  in 
Brussels." 

From  this  epoch  dates  a  new  era  in  the  history 
of  the  world's  legislation.  For  the  enlarged  views 
of  the  reciprocal  duties,  as  well  as  of  the  true  in 
terests  of  nations,  in  which  this  great  general  move 
ment  originated,  are  destined,  through  its  instrument 
ality,  to  impress  themselves  more  and  more  completely 
upon  human  institutions  ;  until  statutes  shall  at  length 
cease  to  be  monuments  of  ignorance,  prejudice,  or 
ignoble  jealousies,  and  the  aim  of  all  laws  shall  be  the 
greatest  good  of  the  greatest  number.  One  most 
important  result  has  already  been  secured  by  the 
action  of  these  congresses ;  in  that,  so  far  as  the  science 
of  statistics  is  concerned,  so  far,  we  may  even  say,  as 
the  successful  conduct  of  governmental  administration 
is  concerned,  it  has  made  the  metric  system  of  weights 
and  measures  a  system  of  universal  necessity,  and 
rendered  a  familiar  acquaintance  with  it  absolutely 
indispensable  to  every  statesman,  every  publicist, 
every  teacher  or  student  of  political  economy,  and 
every  enlightened  lawgiver  throughout  the  world. 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  69 

ALL    CAUSES    CONSPIRE    TO    RENDER    THE    ULTIMATE 
TRIUMPH    OF    THE    SYSTEM    INEVITABLE. 

It  thus  appears  that  there  are  powerful,  permanent, 
and  all-pervading  influences  steadily  at  work  to  ad 
vance  the  cause  of  metrological  reform  ;  and  that  these 
influences  conspire  to  forward  the  movement  in  the 
direction  which  it  had  already  spontaneously  taken — • 
that  is  to  say,  toward  the  ultimate  prevalence  of  the 
metric  system  of  weights  and  measures  over  every 
other.  It  further  appears  that  the  actual  progress 
which  the  movement  has  made  since  the  century 
began,  has  by  far  exceeded  anything  which  could  have 
been  reasonably  anticipated,  and  has  been  sufficient  to 
justify  the  most  sanguine  hopes  for  the  future.  When 
we  consider,  for  example,  that,  at  the  close  of  the  last 
century,  the  simple  measure  of  length  called  the  foot 
had  not  less  than  sixty  different  values  still — probably 
many  more — actually  in  use  in  different  parts  of 
Europe  ;  and  that,  in  1867,  at  an  Exposition  in  which 
the  measures  of  all  the  world  were  all  brought  to 
gether,  there  could  be  found  only  eight  of  this  discord 
ant  class  still  surviving  ;  argument  would  seem  to  be 
needless  in  behalf  of  a  cause  which  is  so  manifestly 
making  its  own  way  unaided.  Whether  our  own  peo 
ple  are  to  be  participators  in  this  grand  movement, 
which  has  already  gone  so  far,  is  not  with  me  a  ques 
tion  of  probabilities,  but  only  a  question  of  time.  I 
expect  very  little  to-day,  and  not  much  to-morrow  ; 


70  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

but  beyond  to-day  and  to-morrow  there  are  other  days 
coming,  from  which  I  expect  everything.  I  know  the 
strength  of  early  associations  and  the  power  of  rooted 
habits  ;  I  know  how  fondly  men  will  hug  the  evil 
which  is  familiar  and  reject  the  good  that  is  strange. 
I  know  that  the  Greenlander  greatly  prefers  his  icy 
mountains  to  the  coral  strands  of  India.  My  inference 
is,  that  we  must  look  to  a  generation  which  shall  not 
be  so  mentally  one-sided  as  ours  ;  a  generation  in 
whose  training  the  good  shall  not  be  placed  at  so 
tremendous  a  disadvantage  as  it  has  been  in  our  own  ; 
a  generation  which  shall  bring  to  this  great  metrolo- 
gical  question  a  judgment  at  once  fair,  candid,  un 
biased,  and  un warped  by  the  prejudices  which  mis 
lead  and  bewilder  us  ;  to  pronounce  the  impartial 
decision  for  which,  it  must  be  sadly  admitted,  we  seem 
disqualified  ourselves.  And  such  a  generation,  gen 
tlemen,  permit  me  to  predict,  will  yet  be  born  upon 
the  American  continent,  if  it  is  not  born  already. 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  71 

II. — Objections  to  the  Metric  System  considered. 

PRELIMINARY    REMARKS. 

In  all  that  I  have  hitherto  said,  I  have  not  dwelt  for 
one  moment  upon  the  intrinsic  merits  of  the  metric 
system  itself.  I  have  not  thought  that  necessary.  I 
am  addressing  intelligent  men  who  know  the  system, 
and  who  know  that,  for  the  whole  circle  of  our  deal 
ings  with  quantities,  it  stands,  for  easiness  of  appre 
hension,  for  convenience  of  use,  and  for  the  degree  to 
which  it  facilitates  reductions,  precisely  where  our 
Federal  currency  stands,  among  systems  of  money. 
The  simplicity  of  the  relations,  moreover,  by  which  it 
connects  the  measures  of  surface,  of  capacity,  and  of 
weight,  with  the  linear  base,  is  such  as  is  nowhere  else 
found  ;  and  such  as  to  make  of  the  system  a  powerful 
intellectual  machine,  and  an  educational  instrumental 
ity  of  inappreciable  value.  All  this  I  pass  by.  But 
I  cannot  pass  so  lightly  by  the  objections  which 
have  been  urged  against  the  system,  and  of  which,  in 
my  view,  the  importance  has  been,  in  most  instances, 
exaggerated  beyond  all  reason  ;  since,  through  the 
wide  circulation  of  the  report  of  your  committee  on 
this  subject,  the  high  authority  of  this  learned  convo 
cation  has  been  made  liable  to  be  popularly  regarded 
as  attesting  their  gravity.  Consistently  with  the  duty 
imposed  upon  me  on  this  occasion,  therefore,  I  cannot 
pass  them  by  ;  although  the  extent  to  which  I  have 


72  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

already  trespassed  upon  your  indulgence  forbids  that 
I  should  examine  them  with  all  the  fulness  that  I 
could  desire. 

FIRST    OBJECTION THE    UNIT    BASE    TOO    LARGE. 

We  are  told,  then,  first,  that  the  linear  unit  of  the 
system  is  too  large.  Too  large  for  what  ?  Too  large, 
in  the  words  of  your  committee,  "  to  be  apprehended 
by  a  young  and  uninstructed  mind."  This  is  some 
thing  which  I  confess  that  /  do  not  apprehend.  A 
metre,  I  suppose,  can  be  brought  into  the  school 
room  ;  and  can  be  seen  without  difficulty,  even  by  a 
very  small  boy,  from  end  to  end.  I  remember,  when 
I  was  a  very  small  boy  myself,  seeing  something 
brought  in  which  was  about  as  long  as  a  metre  ;  and 
if  I  did  not  apprehend  it  at  the  time,  I  was  at  least 
very  apprehensive  of  it. 

But  Mr.  ADAMS  says  the  metre  is  too  long  for  a 
pocket  rule.  "  Perhaps,"  he  remarks,  "for  half  the 
occasions  which  arise  in  the  life  of  every  individual  for 
the  use  of  a  linear  measure,  the  instrument,  to  suit  his 
purposes,  must  be  portable,  and  fit  to  be  carried  in  his 
pocket.  Neither  the  metre,  the  half-metre,  nor  the 
decimetre  is  suited  to  that  purpose."  What  then 
would  Mr.  ADAMS  have  ?  Would  the  foot  rule  fit  into 
a  man's  pocket  more  conveniently  than  the  decimetre  ? 
Does  any  man  carry  a  foot  rule  in  his  pocket  in  any 
other  than  a  folding  form?  And  cannot  a  folded 
metre  be  carried  in  the  pocket  as  easily  as  a  folded 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  73 

foot  ?  I  at  least  find  it  so  ;  as  this  rule  proves,  which 
I  here  present  you.  But  since  we  have  not  yet 
adopted  the  metre  as  our  unit,  and  since,  after  all,  in 
spite  of  what  Mr.  ADAMS  says,  or  what  anybody  else 
says,  it  happens  to  be  notorious  that  a  foot  is  not  the 
measure  which,  "  for  half  the  occasions  which  arise  in 
the  life  of  every  individual,"  is  the  most  useful ;  the 
portable  measure  which  we  commonly  find  in  men's 
pockets  is  a  tape  measure  of  a  yard  or  a  fathom  in 
length,  put  up  more  compactly  than  is  possible  for 
any  rule,  whether  long  or  short. 

As  to  what  ought  to  be  the  value  of  the  standard 
length-unit,  opinions  differ.  The  British  standard  is  a 
yard.  The  Russian  is  the  sagene,  more  than  twice  as 
long.  Capt.  PIAZZI  SMYTH  almost  fanatically  attaches 
himself  to  the  inch,  a  measure  which  he  believes  with 
implicit  faith  to  have  been  divinely  given  to  CHEOPS, 
builder  of  the  great  pyramid,  and  again  to  MOSES  in 
the  wilderness  ;  and  in  what  he,  no  doubt,  regards  as 
the  great  work  of  his  life,  he  uses  no  other  to  express 
the  largest  dimensions. 

But  it  is  also  said  that  there  are  ihings  to  be  meas 
ured  in  the  common  affairs  of  life  that  are  less  than  a 
metre.  I  should  suppose  so.  There  are  likewise  many 
things  to  be  measured,  less  than  a  foot,  or  an  inch. 
They  measure  these  things  in  England  even  though  the 
yard  is  their  legal  standard.  In  mechanical  engineer 
ing,  in  France,  the  centimetre  is  the  unit  ;  in  physics 
the  millimetre.  It  does  not  unfit  them  for  these  uses, 


74  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

that  their  names  happen  at  the  same  time  to  be  ex 
pressive  of  relation  to  the  standard.  The  metric  unit 
of  weight  in  commerce  is  the  kilogramme  ;  in  analytic 
chemistry  and  pharmacy  it  is  the  gramme.  The  metric 
unit  for  dry  measure  is  the  hectolitre  ;  for  liquid  meas 
ure,  it  is  the  litre;  the  metric  agrarian  unit  is  the  hec 
tare  ;  the  metric  itinerary  unit  is  the  kilometre.  It  is, 
in  fact,  one  of  the  merits  of  the  system,  that  while, 
like  all  other  systems,  it  allows  any  denomination  to  be 
made  a  unit  measure  for  special  purposes,  yet  it  allows 
also  instantaneous  transformations  from  one  denom 
ination  to  another  without  changing  a  figure,  but  by 
the  simple  removal  of  a  point.  This  cannot  be  done 
in  non-decimal  systems.  The  inch,  for  example,  is 
with  us  the  unit  of  the  mechanical  engineer  and  the 
draftsman.  The  rod  is  the  farmer's  unit  of  distance. 
But  to  reduce  inches  to  feet  you  must  divide  by  twelve, 
changing  all  your  figures  ;  and  to  reduce  rods  to  feet 
you  must  multiply  by  sixteen  and  a  half.  This  plan 
does  not  seem  to  me  preferable  to  the  metric.  When 
your  committee  say  that  in  their  opinion  "  other  units 
besides  the  base-unit  should  be  used,  as  secondary 
bases  for  collections  of  numbers,"  I  agree  with  them. 
It  is  what,  in  the  employment  of  the  metric  system,  I 
have  always  been  in  the  habit  of  doing  myself.  But 
if,  when  they  say  this,  they  mean  to  say  that  values 
expressed  in  units  of  these  secondary  bases  ought  not 
to  be  transformable  by  the  simplest  processes  possible 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  75 

into  units  of  the  standard  base,  my  impression  is  that 
they  will  fail  to  carry  the  world  along  with  them. 

SECOND    OBJECTION THE    DECIMAL    DIVISION    TOO 

DIFFICULT. 

Another  serious  difficulty  is  started,  of  an  educa 
tional  character.  Ten,  it  seems,  is  a  difficult  number 
to  grasp  ;  and  one-tenth  part  is  a  still  more  difficult 
fraction.  We  can  never  know  anything  about  one- 
tenth,  "  until  we  have  divided  the  unit  into  two  equal 
parts,  into  three,  into  four,  and  so  on  up  to  ten.'7 
Since  this  is  the  case,  it  is  melancholy  to  reflect  how 
much  more  objectionable  is  our  actual  system  of 
weights  and  measures  than  the  metric  ;  since  it  will  be 
necessary  to  divide  the  foot  into  two  equal  parts,  into 
three,  into  four,  and  so  on  all  the  way  up  even  to 
twelve,  before  the  faintest  conception  of  an  inch  can 
begin  to  dawn  upon  our  minds  ;  and  when  we  turn  our 
attention  to  the  pound  and  the  ounce  avoirdupois,  the 
formidably  protracted  extent  of  this  unavoidable 
operation  becomes  quite  disheartening.  Still,  however 
grave  this  business  of  ten  may  be,  I  suppose  that  our 
children  must  some  time  or  other  know  something 
about  decimal  arithmetic;  and  they  will  have  to  know 
something  about  it  whether  they  learn  the  metric  sys 
tem  or  not.  If  they  know  it,  they  know  the  system, 
all  but  its  nomenclature ;  if  they  don't  know  it,  then  I 
can  conceive  no  educational  machinery  better  suited  to 
make  them  know  it,  than  the  visible  magnitude  of  the 


76  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

metric  measures  placed  before  their  eyes.  The  ques 
tion  is  not  whether  we  shall  teach  the  metric  system  to 
babes,  but  whether  we  shall  teach  it  along  with  the 
arithmetic,  and  as  a  part  of  the  arithmetic,  which  boys 
must  learn  at  any  rate.  The  objector  does  not  appa 
rently  discover  that  his  argument  is  no  less  damnatory 
to  our  Federal  currency  than  to  the  metric  system  ; 
yet  my  observation  in  the  streets  of  New  York  satisfies 
me  that  gamins  of  very  tender  years,  without  having 
enjoyed  the  advantages  of  scholastic  culture,  or  having 
been  carefully  and  systematically  carried  through  the 
mental  operation  of  dividing  the  unit  into  two  parts, 
into  three  parts,  into  four  parts,  and  so  on  up  to  ten, 
acquire  an  acute  appreciation  of  the  relative  value  of  a 
dime  stamp  and  a  nickel. 

THIRD    OBJECTION THE    DECIMAL  DIVISION    UNSUITABLE 

FOR    PRACTICAL    PURPOSES. 

It  is  objected  again  that,  while  the  decimal  ratio  is 
infinitely  more  favorable  to  calculation  than  any  other, 
yet  for  sensible  objects,  and  for  the  daily  purposes  of 
life,  the  binary  subdivision  is  to  be  preferred.  If  so, 
then  let  us  use  the  binary  so  far  as  convenience  may 
demand.  There  is  no  need  on  this  account  to  reject 
the  decimal,  which  for  purposes  of  calculation  is  of 
priceless  value.  No  harm  is  going  to  arise  from  em 
ploying  both.  We  divide  the  dollar  certainly  into 
halves  and  quarters,  to  our  great  convenience  ;  and 
the  decimal  system  of  the  Federal  currency  is  none 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  77 

the  worse  for  that.  We  used  to  divide  it  into  eighths 
and  sixteenths  even  ;  and  Mr.  ADAMS  says  that,  if  the 
Spanish  mint  had  not  furnished  us  with  coins  repre 
sentative  of  these  values,  we  should  have  been  obliged 
to  coin  them  ourselves.  Yet  within  ten  years  after 
Mr.  ADAMS  wrote,  we  had  effectually  swept  out  all 
this  fry  of  foreign  coinage,  and  nobody  now  perceives 
the  want  of  it.  Again,  the  Swiss  pound  is  half  a 
kilogramme.  Take  half  any  number  of  Swiss  pounds 
and  you  have  kilogrammes.  Double  the  number  of 
kilogrammes  and  you  have  Swiss  pounds.  The  Swiss, 
moreover,  use  both  the  decimal  and  the  binary  subdivi 
sion.  I  presume  they  would  not  do  this  if  they  did  not 
find  it  for  some  purposes  useful,  as  we  do  in  our  Federal 
currency.  The  Swedes,  some  fifteen  years  ago,  intro 
duced  the  decimal  subdivision,  but  they  still  retain 
some  binary  relations.  Some  such  binary  relations 
are  recognized  also  by  the  French  law  ;  but  it  does 
not  therefore  follow,  as  your  committee  infer,  that 
this  fact  "must  give  rise  to  much  confusion. ;?  Neither 
is  it  true,  as  they  also  maintain,  that  we  cannot  adopt 
the  essentials  of  this  system  without  "  adopting  it  as  a 
whole  and  excluding  every  other  :"  by  which  I  under 
stand  them  to  mean  that  we  shall  not  even  adopt 
metric  values  for  our  units,  as  Denmark  has  done,  and 
as  Austria  has  done,  and  as  Turkey  has  done  to  a 
certain  extent,  without  adopting  the  nomenclature 
throughout,  and  sternly  prohibiting  the  use  of  all 
binary  division  ;  or  that  we  shall  not  adopt  if  we 


78  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

please  the  decimal  relations,  as  Sweden  has  done,  with 
out  adopting  either  metric  values  or  the  nomenclature; 
nor  adopt  the  metric  values  and  the  decimal  system 
complete,  and  yet  reject  the  nomenclature,  as  Holland 
continued  to  do  for  half  a  century,  and  has  only 
ceased  to  do  within  the  last  two  years.  Surely,  things 
that  other  people  have  done,  we  may  do  ;  nor  is  there 
going  to  be,  as  your  committee  apprehend,  any  "fierce 
conflict "  about  the  matter,  nor  any  need  to  talk  about 
"  the  spirit  of  a  free  people,"  or  to  insist  on  the  fact 
that  Americans  are  not  habituated  to  "  blind  obedi 
ence  to  imperial  edicts." 

THE    SPIRIT    OF    METROLOGICAL    REFORMERS    MISAPPRE 
HENDED. 

Can  it  not  be  understood  that  nobody  of  the  great 
party  who  are  seeking  metrological  reform  and  perfect 
international  accord  on  this  important  subject,  is  big- 
otedly  devoted  to  the  metric  system  for  its  own  sake  ; 
or  resolutely  determined  to  yield  nothing  that  is  in  it, 
or  to  accept  nothing  that  is  not  in  it,  on  any  consid 
eration  whatever  ?  Their  battle  is  for  a  common  sys 
tem,  be  that  what  it  may  ;  but  if  they  believe  that 
that  common  system  will  be  found  at  last  to  embrace 
the  main  features  of  the  metric  system,  they  are  not 
to  be  told  that  they  shall  have  nothing  else,  if  anything 
else  superadded  to  it  will  make  it  either  theoretically 
or  practically  better.  Mr.  ADAMS  wrote  fifty  years 
ago.  What  he  wrote  seems  to  have  impressed  your 


WEIGHTS   AND    MEASURES.  79 

committee  much  more  forcibly  than  all  that  has  hap 
pened  since.  But  the  world  has  moved  since  the  time 
of  Mr.  ADAMS  ;  and  it  is  perhaps  not  quite  in  order  to 
tell  us  that,  if  we  think  it  a  good  thing  to  divide  by 
ten,  we  shall  never  be  permitted  to  divide  by  any  other 
number  so  long  as  we  live.  The  first  great  point  to 
be  secured  is  commensurability  of  unit  bases.  That 
point  once  gained,  the  battle  is  substantially  over.  As 
for  nomenclature  and  subdivisions,  however  important 
these  matters  may  be,  their  importance  is  secondary, 
and  they  may  be  attended  to  afterwards. 

THE    DANGER    OF    JUMPING    AT    CONCLUSIONS. 

Sweeping  propositions  are  rarely  wholly  true.  It  is 
not  a  fact  that  binary  subdivisions  of  weight  and 
measure  are  always  necessarily  the  best.  In  small 
dealings,  the  convenience  of  buyers  and  sellers  is  best 
consulted,  when  the  multiples  and  submultiples  of 
quantities  correspond  with  the  multiples  and  sub- 
multiples  of  coins.  If  a  pound  of  any  commodity  costs 
twenty-five  cents,  it  would  suit  all  parties  who  use  the 
Federal  currency  better,  if  we  could  divide  the  pound 
evenly  into  five  parts,  than  it  does  now  to  divide  it 
into  four.  Nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  quanti 
ties  bought  and  sold,  and  the  instrument  of  purchase 
and  sale,  should  be  subject  to  the  same  law. 


80  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 


COMMENSURABILITY    OF    UNIT    BASIS    FIRST    TO    BE  SOUGHT. 

But,  as  just  remarked,  the  first  point  and  the  great 
point  to  be  secured  is,  commensurability  of  unit  bases. 
This  can  be  accomplished,  if  we  please,  with  great 
facility.  Our  foot  differs  from  three  decimetres  by  a 
very  inconsiderable  fraction — less  than  two-tenths  of 
an  inch.  If  we  make  this  slight  change  in  the  length 
of  our  foot,  we  are  in  harmony  with  nearly  all  of  con 
tinental  Europe.  As  for  the  other  measures,  they 
present  no  difficulty  when  the  measure  of  length  is 
once  adjusted  ;  for  measures  of  length  determine  the 
dimensions  of  permanent  constructions,  while  pounds 
and  gallons  are  for  ascertaining  quantities  of  sub 
stances  usually  perishable.  Men  are  disposed,  there 
fore,  to  adhere  with  more  obstinacy  to  their  measures 
of  length  than  to  those  either  of  weight  or  of  volume. 

PAST    INSTABILITY    OF    BRITISH    MEASURES    AND    WEIGHTS. 

Mr.  ADAMS'S  report  shows  that,  in  the  past  history 
of  England,  nothing  has  been  more  unstable  than  the 
value  of  the  pound,  the  bushel,  and  the  gallon.  There 
was  a  time  when  the  gallon  of  liquid  capacity  con 
tained  only  216  cubic  inches — in  one  sense  a  judi 
ciously  chosen  value,  since  it  was  just  one-eighth  part 
of  a  cubic  foot.  The  dry  measure  gallon  contained,  at 
the  same  time,  264.34  cubic  inches,  corresponding  to  a 
bushel  of  2,114.68  cubic  inches.  And  there  was  a 


WEIGHTS   AND    MEASURES.  81 

ratio  connecting  the  liquid  and  dry  measures,  which 
was  that  of  the  specific  gravities  of  wheat  and  Gascon 
wine.  Mr.  ADAMS  is  quite  enamored  of  this  dupli 
city,  which  extended  to  the  weights  as  well,  between 
which  the  ratio  has  been  pretty  closely  preserved 
down  to  our  time.  But  this  liquid  gallon  went  on,  as 
Mr.  ADAMS  explains,  to  be  successively  217.6  cubic 
inches,  219.43  cubic  inches,  224  cubic  inches,  and 
finally,  as  with  us  now,  231  cubic  inches.  As  to  the 
bushel,  it  seems  to  have  had  all  sorts  of  value.  By 
statute  of  1496,  passed  in  the  reign  of  HENRY  YIL,  it 
seems  to  have  been  ordered  that  this  measure  should 
contain  1792  cubic  inches  ;  but  this  statute  was  never 
carried  out.  There  are  two  exchequer  standards  of 
this  reign,  one  of  2124  cubic  inches,  and  one  of  2146 
cubic  inches,  which  latter  is  called  the  Winchester 
bushel.  But  then,  under  HENRY  Till.,  we  have  the 
large  bushel  of  2256  cubic  inches,  from  which  came 
the  ale  gallon  of  282  cubic  inches,  so  long  in  use  with 
us.  A  bushel  afterwards  appeared,  of  2148.5  cubic 
inches  ;  and  subsequently  the  Winchester  bushel  was 
found  to  have  somehow  worked  its  way  up  to  2150.42 
cubic  inches  :  at  which  value  it  was,  in  1701,  made  the 
standard  in  England,  and  so  became  tl 

us,  as  it  continues  to  be  yet.  ^ffC^^**^**^ 

^— i       *^ 

Library* 

California. 


82  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM   OF 

SUMMARY    PROCEEDING    OF    THE     BRITISH    PARLIAMENT    ON 
THE    SUBJECT. 

But  just  three  years  and  a  half  after  Mr.  ADAMS  so 
strongly  expressed  his  regrets  at  the  destruction  of  the 
beautiful  "  uniformity  of  proportion  "  contemplated 
by  the  theory  of  the  British  measures,  the  British 
Parliament  took  this  whole  business  in  hand.  Instead 
of  improving  the  capital  opportunity  afforded  them  of 
correcting  the  irregularities  which  his  report  signalizes, 
they  quietly  struck  out  of  existence  every  measure  of 
capacity  in  use,  whether  wet  or  dry;  and  established 
the  system  of  imperial  measures,  wherein  the  bushel 
contains  2218.1907  cubic  inches,  and  the  gallon  277.- 
2738  cubic  inches,  to  be  used  equally  for  commodities 
of  all  descriptions.  This  was  a  tolerably  formidable 
change  and  a  tolerably  sudden  change;  but  it  occa 
sioned  no  insurrection;  nor  did  the  people  even  run 
after  the  carriages  of  the  ministers,  shouting  "  give  us 
us  back  our  bushel;"  as  we  are  told  they  shouted  in 
1752,  "  give  us  back  our  eleven  days,7'  when  the  Gre 
gorian  calendar  was  first  introduced  into  England. 
Changes  of  metrological  systems,  then,  are  possible, 
and  are  possible  even  for  us,  without  provoking 
"fierce  conflicts.'7  All  that  is  necessary  is  that  the 
people  should  know  what  they  are,  and  should  feel 
that  they  are  desirable. 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  83 

THE  COMMITTEE    OF  THE  CONVOCATION    THEMSELVES  ADVO 
CATE    REFORM. 

Your  committee  themselves  are  not  adverse  to  all 
change.  There  is  one  modification  of  our  system 
of  weights  which  they  actually  propose  to  our  accept 
ance.  The  recommendation  is  made  moreover  so  im 
pressively,  out  of  a  sense  of  "  duty,  plain  and  impera 
tive,"  that  for  one  I  was  prepared  for  something  start 
ling  ;  for  at  the  very  least  a  proposition  to  do  away 
forever  with  the  perfectly  unnecessary  Troy  pound. 
I  am  compelled  to  confess  my  disappointment.  The 
proposed  innovation  so  solemnly  introduced  is  ex 
plained  in  the  following  words:  "In  analyzing  these 
weights,  it  is  found  that  the  ounce  in  the  apothecaries' 
weight  and  the  ounce  in  the  weight  Troy  are  identi 
cal,  and  that  each  exceeds  the  ounce  avoirdupois  by 
its  eighty-three-thousandth  part  very  nearly;  hence,  if 
the  ounce  Troy,  or  the  apothecaries'  ounce,  be  dimin 
ished  by  its  eighty- three-thousandth  part,  the  result 
will  be  the  ounce  avoirdupois,  or  the  one-thousandth 
part  of  the  weight  of  a  cubic  foot  of  distilled  water, 
and  then  these  three  weights  will  have  a  common 
unit." 

I  have  pondered  this  passage  profoundly,  but  I  have 
not  been  able  to  see  my  way  to  the  bottom  of  it.  It 
has  been  my  lot  to  be  compelled  to  transform  Troy 
ounces  into  avoirdupois  ounces  very  frequently;  but  I 
have  always  found  the  difference  to  be  42.5  grains, 


84  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

while  it  is  here  apparently  hardly  six  one-thousandths 
of  one  grain.  Presuming,  however,  that  something 
may  have  been  intended  which  is  not  said,  and  that,  at 
any  rate,  it  is  designed  somehow  to  make  the  Troy 
and  apothecaries'  ounce  equal  to  the  avoirdupois 
ounce,  I  accept  this  proposition  as  a  concession  so  far 
as  it  goes  to  the  cause  of  uniformity  and  simplicity  ; 
but  I  ask  what  justification  can  exist,  after  abolishing 
the  smaller  denominations,  which  alone  are  used  by 
the  jewellers  and  dealers  in  bullion,  or  even  by  the 
druggists  (for  the  wholesale  drug  trade  is  carried  on  in 
avoirdupois  pounds) — what  justification  can  exist  after 
this,  for  retaining  the  useless  pound  of  twelve  ounces. 
I  would  point  out  further  that,  since  the  ounce, 
after  being  reduced  by  nearly  its  eleventh  part,  is  still, 
according  to  the  proposition  of  your  committee,  to 
consist  of  four  hundred  and  eighty  grains,  the  grain 
must  accordingly  be  reduced  in  the  same  proportion; 
so  that  all  the  confusion  which  could  arise  in  phar 
macy  and  the  trade  in  precious  metals  from  changing 
the  grain  for  the  milligramme,  whereby  something 
might  be  gained,  will  be  here  introduced  without  gam 
ing  anything  at  all. 

FOURTH  OBJECTION THE    DECIMAL    DIVISION    HAS    FAILED, 

AS    APPLIED    TO    THE    CIRCLE. 

It  has  been  furthermore  urged  as  a  fact  very  in 
jurious  to  the  pretensions  of  the  metric  system,  that 
this  system  has  never  been  permanently  applied  to  the 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  85 

division  of  the  circle,  to  which,  if  to  anything,  it  ought 
to  be  peculiarly  adapted.  Those  who  use  this  argu 
ment  ought  to  remember  that  the  Arabic  numerals, 
the  symbols  of  algebra,  and  the  division  of  the  circle, 
are  three  things  (and  the  only  three  things,  I  believe), 
which  were  the  same  for  all  civilized  mankind  when 
the  metric  system  was  created.  To  change  the  law  of 
circular  division  was  to  introduce  diversity  where  uni 
formity  prevailed  before  ;  and  also  to  destroy  the  use 
fulness  of  a  vast  scientific  literature  which  had  been 
founded  on  the  sexagesimal  division.  Yet  the  French 
did  make  the  experiment  of  dividing  the  quadrant 
centesimally,  both  in  tables  and  in  instruments  ;  and 
what  was  thought  of  its  convenience  by  the  ablest 
astronomers  and  geodesists  of  that  day  may  be  inferred 
from  the  following  incidental  remarks  of  DELAMBRE,  in 
his  description  of  the  operation  of  measuring  the  great 
French  meridian  arc.  "  Three  of  our  four  circles,"  he 
observes,  "  were  divided  into  decimal  grades  or  degrees, 
each  having  the  value  of  360°  -f-  400=0°. 9— 540'= 
3240".  This  division  is  much  the  most  convenient  for 
the  uses  of  the  repeating  circle,  and  would  be  equally 
so  for  the  verniers  of  all  instruments  whatever.  Many 
persons  hold  to  the  old  system  by  habit,  and  because 
they  have  made  no  use  of  the  new  ;  but  no  one  of 
those  who  have  practised  both,  will  willingly  return  to 
the  old." 

When  the  metric  system   shall  be  universal,    it  is 
probable  that  the  decimal  division  will  be   once  more 


86  THE   METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

applied  to  the  circle.  Nothing  could  be  less  conveni 
ent  than  the  sexagesimal  which  is  now  employed.  And 
in  point  of  fact,  this  law  of  subdivision  has  been  al 
ready  abandoned  for  all  values  below  seconds  ;  such 
values  being  now  invariably  expressed  decimally, 
though,  two  or  three  hundred  years  ago,  it  was  carried 
to  thirds,  fourths,  and  even  fifths,  as  may  be  seen  in 
any  old  astronomical  work,  or  in  DELAMBRE'S  History 
of  the  Astronomy  of  the  Middle  Ages.  I  regard  this 
objection  therefore  as  without  foundation. 

FIFTH    OBJECTION — THE    UNIT    OF     LENGTH    SHOULD    BE 
SOME    DIMENSION    OF    THE    HUMAN    PERSON. 

But  it  is  apparently  a  very  strong  point  with  most 
objectors  to  the  metric  system,  that  our  present  meas 
ures  of  length  have  their  representatives — the  assump 
tion  is  that  they  have  their  prototypes — in  the  dimen 
sions  of  some  parts  of  the  human  body.  Thus,  your 
committee  say,  the  foot  "  was  undoubtedly  adopted  as 
a  standard  of  measure  from  the  part  of  the  body  from 
which  it  takes  its  name.77  Some  foot  was  undoubtedly 
so  adopted,  but  what  foot  ?  The  Greeks  used  the  foot 
earliest,  and  the  Olympic  foot  is  said  to  have  been  the 
measure  of  the  foot  of  HERCULES.  But  there  were  foot 
measures  in  use  among  them  of  several  other  magni 
tudes  ;  and  while  it  is  difficult  to  know  with  certainty 
what  any  of  them  were,  compared  with  ours,  it  is  not 
difficult  at  all  to  ascertain  that  they  differed  widely 
among  themselves.  Thus  the  authorities  state  that  the 


WEIGHTS   AND    MEASURES.  87 

Macedonian  foot  was  14.08  inches,  the  Olympian  12.14 
inches,  the  Pythian  9.72  inches,  and  the  Sicilian  8.75 
inches.  Here,  in  the  earliest  history  of  this  measure, 
we  have  the  largest  room  for  choice.  In  more  recent 
times,  the  diversity  has  been  greater  still.  Thus  in 
Italy  the  foot  was,  not  long  ago,  11.62  inches  in 
Rome;  13.68  inches  in  Lombardy  ;  23.22  inches  in 
Lucca.  In  France,  it  was  9.76  inches  in  Avignon  ; 
9.79  inches  in  Aix-en-Provence  ;  10.57  inches  in 
Rouen  ;  14.05  inches  in  Bordeaux  ;  while  the  Pied  du 
roi,  for  France  generally,  was  12.79  inches.  In  Swit 
zerland,  it  was  10.52  inches  in  Neufchatel ;  11.33  inches 
in  Rostock  ;  11.99  inches  in  Basel  ;  and  19.21  inches 
in  Geneva.  In  the  Spanish  Peninsula,  it  was  10.12 
inches  in  Aragon,  and  10.96  inches  in  Castile.  In 
Germany,  it  was  9.25  inches  in  "Wesel ;  10.89  inches  in 
Bavaria  ;  10.998  inches  in  Heidelberg  ;  11.45  inches  in 
Gottingen  ;  and  13.12  inches  in  Carlsruhe.  In  the 
Netherlands,  it  was  10.86  inches  in  Brussels,  and 
inches  in  Liege.  These  examples  will  suffice, 
there  are  plenty  more  behind.  w  ~w 

It  can  hardly  be  supposed  that  all  these  measures^  ' 
were  taken  from  the  human  foot ;  it  is  hardly  probable 
that  any  of  those  used  in  the  later  centuries  were  so. 
The  name  has  been  perpetuated  from  a  very  early 
time  ;  but  the  thing  named  has  either  lost  by  degrees 
its  original  value,  or  it  has  been  arbitrarily  changed. 
As  to  the  origin  of  the  British  foot,  it  is  pretty  easily 
explained.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the  account 


88  THE    METRIC   SYSTEM   OF 

commonly  given  of  the  adjustment  of  the  yard  from 
the  arm  of  HENRY  I.,  in  1101.  The  foot  is  certainly 
derived  from  the  yard,  which  has  always  been  the 
standard  of  length  in  England,  and  is  simply  the  third 
part  of  that  measure.  I  know  that  we  are  continually 
told  that  our  American  foot  is  in  length  but  a  fraction 
in  excess  of  the  average  foot  of  man.  It  astonishes 
me  that  any  one  who  has  two  feet  to  walk  on  himself 
should  ever  entertain  this  opinion.  The  length  of  the 
human  foot  is  given  in  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica, 
(authority  Dr.  THOMAS  YOUNG)  as  9.768  inches.  Upon 
how  large  an  extent  of  observation  this  determination 
is  founded,  is  not  known;  but  the  question  in  issue  is 
pretty  well  settled  in  the  volume  of  "  Investigations  in 
the  Military  and  Anthropological  Statistics  of  American 
Soldiers,  by  Dr.  B.  A.  GOULD,"  published,  in  1869, 
among  the  Memoirs  of  the  U.  S.  Sanitary  Commission. 
Nearly  16,000  individual  men,  volunteers  for  the 
army,  of  very  various  races  and  nationalities,  were 
subjected  to  measurement,  of  whom  about  11,000 
were  white,  and  the  rest  colored.  Dr.  GOULD  says  : 
"  The  mean  length  [of  the  foot]  was  found  for  no 
nationality  to  exceed  10.24  inches  ;  and  for  none  to 
fall  below  9.89  inches  ;  the  value  for  the  total  being 
10.058  inches,"  or  about  a  twentieth  of  an  inch  above 
ten  inches.  This  approaches  much  more  nearly  to  a 
quarter  of  a  metre  than  to  a  third  of  a  yard. 

Let  it  be  understood  that  nobody  is  objecting  to  the 
foot  measure.    It  is  a  very  convenient  measure  to  have. 


WEIGHTS   AND    MEASURES.  89 

If  it  were  slightly  modified  so  as  to  be  equal  to  three 
decimetres,  it  would  be  more  desirable  still ;  but  it  is 
quite  unnecessary  to  defend  it  on  the  ground  that  it  is 
the  measure  of  the  human  foot ;  and  it  is  judicious  not 
to  do  so,  because  that  happens  not  to  be  the  case. 

However,  the  facility  of  measuring  off  the  yard  on 
the  arm  is  a  fact  which  furnishes  to  the  objector  firmer 
ground.  We  can  do  that.  Sir  JOHN  HERSCHEL'S  rule 
is  :  "  Hold  the  end  of  a  string  or  ribbon  between  the 
finger  and  thumb  of  one  hand  at  the  full  length  of  the 
arm  extended  horizontally  sideways,  and  mark  the 
point  that  can  be  brought  to  touch  the  centre  of  the 
lips,  facing  full  in  front."  Yery  well  ;  now  if  you  will 
carry  the  string  or  ribbon  entirely  across  the  lips,  and 
mark  the  point  that  can  be  brought  to  touch  the  angle 
of  the  jaw  or  the  lobe  of  the  ear,  you  will  have  a 
metre.  Or,  if  you  carry  the  ribbon  across  the  breast 
instead  of  the  lips,  and  bring  it  to  the  point  character 
istic  of  that  part  of  the  person,  you  will  have  a  metre 
once  more. 

The  breadth  of  the  palm  is  a  decimetre  ;  the  breadth 
of  the  little  finger  at  its  extremity  is  a  centimetre.  A 
pace  is  an  artificial  step,  and  not  a  natural  one  ;  but 
suppose  that  it  were  natural  for  us  to  stride  three  feet, 
or  suppose,  at  any  rate,  that  we  have  learned  to  do 
so  ;  and  suppose  that  a  metre  is  too  large  a  step  to  be 
easily  acquired  ;  a  pace  is  practically  nine-tenths  of  a 
metre,  and  any  number  of  paces  are  reduced  to  metres 
by  dropping  a  tenth  part.  Thus,  fifty  paces  are  forty- 


90  THE    METRIC   SYSTEM    OF 

five  metres,  and  one  hundred  paces  are  ninety  metres. 
This  reduction  is  the  simplest  of  all  possible  processes. 
Thus,  I  do  not  see  that,  by  adopting  metrical  meas 
ures,  we  are  going  to  be  in  the  slightest  degree  dis 
abled  from  finding,  in  the  dimensions  of  our  own  per 
sons  or  of  our  steps,  all  the  means  of  effecting  rough 
measurements  which  we  possess  at  present ;  and  this 
objection  falls  to  the  ground. 

SIXTH    OBJECTION AN    OBJECTION    OF     THE     COMMITTEE— 

WE    CANNOT    CONVENIENTLY    DEAL    IN    ONE  SYSTEM  AND 
THINK    IN    ANOTHER. 

But  there  is  still  another  practical  objection  which 
is  so  perfectly  well  founded,  that  I  hardly  know  what 
to  say  about  it  •  so  that  I  am  not  sure  that  the  truest 
wisdom  in  me  would  not  be  to  let  it  alone  altogether. 
It  is  the  undeniable  truth,  that,  if  we  give  up  our 
present  measures  we  shall  cease  to  have  them  any  longer. 
"  What  follows  ?"  say  your  committee  with  anxiety; 
"we  have  blotted  from  the  mind  of  the  nation  the 
foot,  and  a  knowledge  of  every  measure  into  which  it 
enters  as  a  unit.'7  This  is  evidently  a  serious  business. 
It  reminds  us  of  the  sad  case  of  the  lad,  who,  having 
eaten  his  cake,  desired  to  have  it  again.  The  com 
mittee  go  on  to  explain  that,  instead  of  twenty-five 
feet  we  shall  have  to  say  something  else  ;  and  instead 
of  one  hundred  and  forty-five  miles  we  shall  have  to 
say  something  else  still.  And  exploring  the  extent  of 
the  calamity,  the  committee  become  gloomily  figura- 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  91 

live  ;  and,  speaking  with  deep  emotion  of  "  the  cubic 
foot,  known  wherever  the  English  language  is  spoken," 
they  tell  us  that  this  cherished  object  "is  also  gone, 
and  in  the  twilight  of  its  existence,  we  grope  about 
for  a  substitute."  I  do  not  deny  that  this  is  eloquence  ; 
but  I  respectfully  submit  that  it  is  not  argument. 
There  cannot  but  be  same  of  us  who  will  consider  that 
this  tenderly  lamented  cubic  foot,  with  its  inconvenient 
numerical  relation  to  the  cubic  inch  of  1728  to  1  ;  and 
its  more  inconvenient  relation  to  the  common  unit  of 
liquid  capacity  of  1728  to  231  ;  and  its  even  still  more 
inconvenient  relation  to  the  unit  of  dry  capacity  of 
1728  to  2,150.42,  is  very  well  out  of  the  way. 

I  will  not  attempt  to  follow  the  committee  further 
in  their  lament.  But  I  cannot  omit  to  notice,  in  pass 
ing,  the  perplexing  embarrassment  of  the  honest  man 
who,  setting  out  to  purchase  the  convenient  quantity 
of  fourteen  pounds  of  beef  for  his  dinner,  after  there 
have  ceased  to  be  any  pounds,  is  astounded  at  finding 
that  he  will  be  compelled  to  pay  for  the  amazing  num 
ber  of  grammes  expressed  by  the  figures  six  thousand 
three  hundred  and  fifty-six  ;  or  in  case  that  he  is  bank 
rupted  by  this  huge  demand,  will  be  permitted  to  com 
promise  the  matter  only  on  condition  of  buying  six 
kilogrammes,  three  hectogrammes,  five  decagrammes, 
and  six  grammes.  I  wish  to  present  a  parallel  to  this. 
I  go  to  my  tailor  for  a  coat,  and  he  states  to  me  the 
price,  in  a  sum  expressed  by  the  four  digits  named 
above,  in  the  same  order,  viz.,  six,  three,  five,  six. 


92  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

The  committee  has  given  the  general  rule  for  reading 
concrete  decimal  numbers,  as  follows  :  "All  the  read 
ings  are  made  in  the  lowest  unit."  Hence,  the  cent 
being  the  lowest  money  unit  involved  in  the  price 
named,  my  tailor  is  under  the  necessity  of  informing 
me  that  I  can  have  the  coat  for  six  thousand  three 
hundred  and  fifty-six  cents  ;  and  it  will  not  be  lawful 
for  him  to  vary  the  form  of  expression  in  any  manner 
unless  to  say,  by  way  of  alternative,  that  he  will  give 
me  the  coat  for  six  eagles,  three  dollars,  five  dimes 
and  six  cents. 

I  would,  however,  advise  the  unfortunate  man  who 
finds  so  much  trouble  with  his  marketing,  not  to  buy 
his  meat  by  the  pound  after  pounds  have  gone  out  of 
date  ;  but  to  content  himself  with  a  round  six  kilo 
grammes,  or,  in  case  he  is  very  hungry,  say  six  and  a 
half. 

SEVENTH    OBJECTION THE    ADOPTION    OF    THE    SYSTEM 

WILL    INVALIDATE    LAND   TITLES. 

As  it  respects  the  objection  that  the  introduction  of 
the  new  measures  would  invalidate  the  titles  to  lands 
held  under  old  surveys,  nothing  can  be  more  imagi 
nary.  No  legislation  on  this  subject  can  be  retroactive 
— it  would  not  be  constitutional  if  it  were.  The 
registry  of  deeds  in  the  past  would  continue  to  have 
the  same  validity  as  now.  In  making  a  new  deed  in 
the  future,  nothing  would  be  easier  than  to  translate 
the  language  descriptive  of  linear  and  superficial  di- 


WEIGHTS   AND    MEASURES.  93 

mensions  from  one  form  of  expression  to  the  other. 
Changes  would  thus  come  on  gradually,  as  property 
should  change  hands.  Deeds  have  to  be  made  anew 
when  sales  are  effected,  and  only  then.  The  labor  of 
making  them  in  one  form  or  the  other  is  precisely  the 
same. 

NINTH     AND     TENTH     OBJECTIONS — THE    BASE     NOT    WELL 
CHOSEN,   NOR    CORRECTLY    DETERMINED. 

One  final  objection,  or  pair  of  objections  allied  to 
each  other  and  closely  connected  together,  I  have  re 
served  to  be  considered  last.  Some  gentlemen  honor 
ably  eminent  in  science  have  criticised  the  metric 
system  on  the  ground  that  its  base  is  not  well  chosen. 
This  base  purports  to  be  the  ten-millionth  part  of  a 
quadrant  of  the  terrestrial  spheroid.  But  it  is  said  the 
earth  is  not  a  spheroid,  being  rather  an  ellipsoid  of  three 
unequal  axes;  whence  it  follows  that  the  meridians  are 
unequal,  and  that  the  metre,  if  truly  the  ten-millionth 
part  of  one  quadrant,  is  not  a  ten-millionth  of  any 
other  differently  situated  in  the  ellipsoidal  surface. 
The  polar  axis  of  the  earth,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the 
common  minor  axis  of  all  meridians  ;  it  is  a  magnitude 
entirely  unique  ;  and,  even  if  the  earth  were  a  true 
spheroi'd,  there  would  be  a  higher  degree  of  scientific 
fitness,  there  would  be  something  on  which  the  mind 
would  dwell  with  more  entire  satisfaction,  if  we  should 
take  a  fraction  of  that  axis  as  the  base  of  a  system  of 
metrology,  rather  than  a  fraction  of  any  quadrant,  or 


94  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

any  other  known  magnitude.  This  is  the  view  of  Sir 
JOHN  HERSCHEL  and  of  Capt.  PIAZZI  SMYTH,  and  if  the 
whole  thing  were  to  be  done  over  again,  it  would 
probably  be  the  unanimous  view  of  the  scientific  world. 
But  the  matter  has  gone  too  far  now  to  change  the  base. 
In  the  meantime,  therefore,  there  is  no  impropriety  in 
saying,  that  it  is  by  no  means  yet  proved  that  the 
earth  is  an  ellipsoid.  Neither,  indeed,  is  it  proved 
that  it  is  a  spheroid,  if  by  that  word  is  to  be  under 
stood  a  figure  geometrically  true.  What  has  been 
proved  may  be  understood  from  the  following  succinct 
statement. 

SKETCH    OF    GEODETIC    OPERATIONS    CONDUCTED    HITHERTO. 

There  have  been  measured  upon  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  in  all,  excluding  re-measurements,  some  sixteen 
meridian  arcs.  Most  of  these  are  very  short,  not  ex 
ceeding  three  or  four  degrees  in  length,  and  generally 
less  than  two.  The  longest  of  them  all  is  the  Russian 
arc,  of  twenty-five  and  one-third  degrees  ;  and  the 
shortest,  the  first  Swedish  arc,  measured  in  1737,  by 
MAUPERTUIS,  of  fifty-seven  and  a  half  minutes.  Two 
short  arcs  have  been  measured  on  the  American  Con 
tinent,  one  in  Peru  and  one  in  Pennsylvania.  The 
latter,  only  about  one  and  a  half  degrees  in  length, 
was  measured  by  Messrs.  MASON  AND  DIXON,  in  1767, 
without  triangulation,  and  is  esteemed  of  compara 
tively  little  value.  The  Peruvian  arc,  which  is  rather 
more  than  three  degrees  long,  was  admirably  triangu- 


WEIGHTS   AND    MEASURES.  95 

lated  by  BOUGUET  and  LA  CONDAMINE,  in  1735,  and  the 
two  or  three  years  succeeding.  A  short  arc  of  about 
a  degree  and  a  half  was  measured  at  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope  by  LACAILLE  in  1751.  In  this  measurement,  the 
effect  of  local  attractions  on  the  plumb-line  was  such 
as  to  lead  to  very  erroneous  conclusions.  This  arc  has 
been  recently  re-examined  and  extended  to  more  than 
four  and  a  half  degrees,  by  Messrs.  HENDERSON  and 
MACLEAR  •  this  operation  bringing  to  light  the  causes 
which  had  vitiated  the  former.  A  long  arc  of  twenty- 
one  and  a  third  degrees  has  been  measured  in  India. 
With  the  exception  of  the  Indian,  the  African,  the 
Peruvian,  and  the  Pennsylvanian  arcs  (the  last  hardly 
meriting  to  be  included  in  the  enumeration),  all  the 
rest  are  in  Europe,  and  are  embraced  within  limits  of 
longitude  differing,  at  widest,  but  about  twenty-seven 
degrees. 

-DETERMINATION    OF    THE    EARTH'S    FIGURE    FROM    GEODETIC 
MEASUREMENTS. 

Now  supposing  the  earth  to  be  a  spheroid,  it  mat 
ters  not,  for  the  determination  of  its  figure,  what  are 
the  longitudes  in  which  meridian  measurements  are 
made,  provided  the  latitudes  are  different  ;  for  on  this 
supposition  degrees  in  the  same  latitude  are  equal 
everywhere.  Also,  if  the  spheroid  is  oblate,  the  curv 
ature  in  the  higher  latitudes  will  be  less  and  the 
degrees  longer  than  in  the  lower.  Now,  as  in  an 
ellipse,  the  linear  amplitudes  of  any  two  arcs  differently 


,96  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM   OF 

i 

distant  from  the  apsides,  along  with  the  angles  made 
by  the  normals  at  their  extremities,  suffice  to  deter 
mine  the  axis  and  the  eccentricity,  it  was  to  be  ex 
pected  that  a  comparison  of  any  two  properly  selected 
meridian  arcs  measured  upon  the  earth's  surface  in 
different  latitudes,  would  furnish  constantly  the  same 
value  of  the  polar  and  equatorial  diameters,  and  the 
same  value  for  the  compression  of  the  poles.  But  this 
expectation  has  been  singularly  disappointed.  The 
international  scientific  commission  which,  in  1799,  fixed 
definitely  the  length  of  the  metre,  in  comparing  the 
French  arc  with  the  Peruvian  arc,  made  the  compres 
sion  of  the  earth  one  334th  ;  but  Messrs.  LAPLACE  and 
LEGENDRE,  both  eminent  geometers,  members  of  that 
commission,  by  comparing  one  portion  of  the  French 
arc  with  another,  made  it,  the  first,  1-1 50th  and  the 
second,  l-148th.  DELAMBRE,  one  of  the  geodesists  who 
effected  the  measurement,  deduced  from  his  compar 
isons  with  the  Peruvian  arc,  the  value,  one  312th,  and 
afterwards  one  309th.  The  French  arc  was  subse 
quently  extended  southward  nearly  three  degrees 
more  ;  making  a  total  length  of  twelve  and  one-third 
degrees,  when  a  recomparison  with  the  Peruvian  arc 
by  DELAMBRE  gave  a  compression  of  one  178th.  The 
effect  of  these  differences  of  result  upon  the  calculated 
length  of  the  quadrant  of  the  meridian  passing  through 
Paris  would  not  be  very  great,  upon  the  hypothesis 
that  the  earth  is  really  a  spheroid  ;  for  it  happens  that 
the  French  arc  is  so  situated  as  to  give  very  nearly  the 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  97 

value  of  the  mean  degree,  independently  of  the  eccen 
tricity.  But  if  the  earth  is  an  ellipsoid,  it  is  evident 
that  it  is  entirely  wrong  in  principle  to  compare  two 
arcs  with  each  other,  when  they  differ  materially  in 
longitude. 

INVESTIGATIONS    OF    GEN.    T.    F.    DE    SCHUBERT. 

Now  it  is  a  part  of  the  history  of  this  subject  that, 
in  the  year  1859,  Gen.  T.  F.  DE  SCHUBERT,  an  officer 
of  the  Russian  army  of  distinguished  ability,  after  a 
laborious  series  of  comparisons  of  several  arcs  com 
bined  two  by  two  in  all  possible  ways  (the  arcs  were 
eight  in  number,  and  the  combinations  twenty-eight), 
found  such  remarkable  discordances,  that  he  felt  him 
self  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the  earth  is  not 
spheroidal,  but  must  be  ellipsoidal  in  form.  The  com 
pressions  found  by  him  varied,  for  instance,  between 
the  wide  extremes  of  one  14501st,  and  one  116th  ;  and 
the  difference  between  the  largest  and  smallest  value 
for  the  polar  axis  amounted  to  362,126  feet,  or  68.584 
miles. 

Now  observe  what  these  deductions  prove,  and  what 
they  do  not  prove.  They  prove  certainly  that  the 
earth  is  not  a  perfectly  regular  spheroid,  and  in  this 
they  are  corroborated  by  other  evidences  ;  but  they  do 
not  prove  it  to  be  an  ellipsoid.  The  corroborating 
evidences  just  alluded  to  may  be  slightly  glanced  at  in 
passing.  In  the  first  place,  the  successive  degrees  of 
the  French  arc  do  not  increase,  in  going  northward,  in 


98  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

the  manner  they  ought  if  the  meridian  is  truly  ellip 
tical.  And,  secondly,  it  is  true,  that  after  that  arc  had 
been  extended  southward,  as  above  mentioned,  to  the 
Island  of  Formentera,  in  the  Mediterranean,  the  de 
grees  at  the  southern  extremity  were  found  actually  to 
diminish  in  going  northward,  instead  of  increasing,  as 
in  a  regular  ellipse  they  should  have  done. 

Colonel  EVEREST,  also,  the  accomplished  geodesist, 
who  executed  the  measurement  of  the  northern  section 
of  the  great  Indian  arc,  found  that,  when  he  compared 
the  northern  half  of  the  northern  section  with  the 
southern  half  of  the  same  section,  he  obtained  an 
eccentricity  of  one  192d  ;  but  that  when  he  compared 
the  southern  half  of  the  northern  section  with  the 
whole  southern  section,  the  resulting  ellipticity  was 
one  390th,  or  only  one-half  as  great.  The  values  of 
the  polar  axis  of  the  earth  also,  obtained  from  these 
comparisons,  differed  by  67,106  feet,  or  about  12.71 
miles. 

These  facts  (and  many  like  them  might  be  stated) 
are  to  be  borne  in  mind  in  judging  how  far  the  method 
of  General  DE  SCHUBERT,  with  the  data  thus  far  gath 
ered  to  go  upon,  is  to  be  trusted.  This  gentleman, 
concluding  very  properly  that  comparisons  of  arcs 
measured  in  different  longitudes  are  unworthy  of  con 
fidence,  resolved  to  deduce  values  of  the  polar  and 
equatorial  diameters  of  each  meridian,  by  such  com 
parisons  as  that  of  Colonel  EVEREST  just  described. 
But  here  his  material  is  at  once  largely  reduced  ;  for 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  99 

of  the  eight  arcs  employed  in  his  previous  comparisons, 
only  three  are  long  enough  to  permit  the  application 
of  this  method,  viz. :  the  Russian,  twenty-five  and  one- 
third  degrees  ;  the  Indian,  twenty-one  and  one-third 
degrees,  and  the  French,  twelve  and  one-third  degrees. 
The  British  arc  is  now  long  enough  to  allow  a  fourth 
comparison  (ten  and  a  quarter  degrees),  but  it  is  so 
nearly  in  the  meridian  of  the  French  arc  that  it  may 
better  be  treated  as  a  prolongation  of  that.  Gen.  DE 
SCHUBERT  divided  each  of  his  three  arcs  into  two  parts, 
as  nearly  equal  as  convenience  would  allow.  From 
each  he  thus  deduced  a  value  for  the  major  and 
minor  axis  of  the  meridional  ellipse.  If  his  hypothesis 
was  true,  the  minor  axes  should  have  come  out  equal 
and  the  major  axes  unequal.  The  latter  anticipation 
was  realized,  but  the  former  only  imperfectly  so.  The 
polar  axis  found  from  the  Russian  arc,  compares  pretty 
well  with  that  found  from  the  Indian  ;  differing  only 
about  fifteen  hundred  feet,  or  rather  more  than  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  ;  but  the  difference  between  the 
values  of  the  same  axis,  as  deduced  from  the  Russian 
and  the  French,  is  fifteen  thousand  one  hundred  and 
sixteen  feet,  or  nearly  three  miles.  On  account  of 
this  discrepancy  G-en.  DE  SCHUBERT  discards  the  French 
arc  in  this  computation,  and  determines  a  value  for  the 
polar  axis  on  the  basis  of  the  Russian  and  the  Indian 
alone  ;  giving,  at  the  same  time,  quite  arbitrarily, 
twice  the  weight  to  the  former  as  to  the  latter.  And 
with  the  axis  thus  determined  and  the  aid  of  the  Peru- 


100  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

vian  arc.   lie   finds   a  third   equatorial  radius  ;  which, 
combined  with  the  Indian  and  Russian  equatorial  radii, 
enable  him  to  place  the   axes   of  his  imaginary  equa 
torial  ellipse.     Finally,  with  the   axes   of  the  equator 
and  their  longitude,  and  also  the  equatorial  eccentrici 
ty,  he  is  able  to  compute  the  length   of  the  equatorial 
radius   corresponding   to   the   French    arc  ;    and  from 
that,    the    length   of   the   theoretic  French  quadrant. 
Then,    comparing    this   theoretic    quadrant   with   the 
length  of  the   same  as   deduced  from  the  actual  meas 
urement  of  its  ninth  part,   he  feels   himself  justified 
in  pronouncing  the  metre  to  be  too  short  by  the  two 
hundredth  part  of  an  inch.    I  think  it  does  not  require 
a  profound  mathematician  to   see   that   the    data    on 
which  this  conclusion  rests  are  too  meagre  to  justify  so 
important  a  deduction.    The  case  is  one  to  which  Prof. 
HUXLEY'S  witty  remark  upon  the  power  of  the  math 
ematics  may  be  properly  applied.     "  The  mathema 
tics/'  observes  the  Professor,  "  may  be  compared  to  a 
mill    of    exquisite    workmanship,    which    grinds    you 
stuff   to   any   degree   of  fineness ;    but,    nevertheless, 
what  you  get  out  depends  on  what  you  put  in.77     And 
here  it  appears  to  me  that  we  are  not  yet  prepared  to 
put  in  material  enough  to  furnish  us  with  a  grist  worth 
carrying  away. 


WEIGHTS   AND    MEASURES.  101 

INVESTIGATIONS    OF     CAPT.    A.    R.    CLARKE. 

Prof.  AIRY  perceived  the  weakness  of  this  method 
and  pointed  it  out.  He  suggested  an  improvement  on 
it  which  is  worth  more,  and  his  suggestion  was  taken 
up  by  Captain  A.  R.  CLARKE,  an  accomplished  officer 
connected  with  the  ordnance  survey  of  Great  Britain. 
This  method  consists  in  bringing  together  the  latitudes, 
determined  both  geodetically  and  astronomically,  of  as 
many  stations  as  possible,  upon  selected  meridian  arcs  ; 
and  then,  all  the  elements  of  the  problem  being  left 
indefinite,  proceeding  to  ascertain  what  values  given 
to  the  indeterminates  will  make  the  sum  of  the  squares 
of  the  errors  of  latitude  a  minimum.  He  first  pre 
sented  his  results  to  the  Royal  Astronomical  Society, 
in  1860;  and  afterwards,  having  slightly  modified  some 
of  his  data,  republished  them  in  an  appendix  to  a  large 
volume  issued  in  1866  by  the  Royal  Ordnance  Survey. 
His  last  conclusion  puts  the  metre  in  error  one  172d 
of  an  inch.  The  number  of  latitudes  employed  by 
Captain  CLARKE  in  this  investigation  is  forty.  Some 
slight  variations  made  upon  a  portion  of  those  in  the 
Russian  and  the  French  arcs,  between  the  first  and  the 
second  determinations,  amounting  generally  only  to 
very  small  fractions  of  seconds,  produced  a  sensible 
difference  in  the  length  of  the  polar  axis,  in  the  value 
of  the  compression,  and  in  the  computed  error  of  the 
metre  ;  reducing  this  last  from  one  163d  of  an  inch, 
which  was  his  original  determination,  to  one  172d,  as 


102  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

given  above.  But  Captain  CLARKE  himself  regards 
the  data  as  entirely  insufficient  to  make  a  correct 
determination  of  the  earth's  figure  a  possibility.  His 
own  words  are  :  "  It  would  scarcely,  I  conceive,  be 
correct  to  say  that  we  had  proved  the  earth  not  to  be 
a  solid  of  revolution.  To  prove  this  would  require 
data  which  we  are  not  in  possession  of  at  present, 
which  must  include  several  arcs  of  longitude.  In  the 
mean  time  it  is  interesting  to  ascertain  what  ellipsoid 
does  actually  best  represent  the  existing  measure 
ments."  And  having  found  this,  he  proceeds  next  to 
apply  the  same  method,  i.  e.,  the  method  of  least 
squares,  to  the  object  of  ascertaining,  secondly,  what 
spheroid  will  best  represent  existing  measurements  ; 
and  he  is  brought  thus  to  the  conclusion  that  such  a 
spheroid  is  nearly  as  probable  as  an  ellipsoid  ;  the 
numbers  representing  these  probabilities  being  154 
and  138  respectively  (where  the  smaller  number  indi 
cates  the  greater  probability).  We  may  admit  then 
that  the  ellipsoidal  theory  is  slightly  the  more  prob 
able  ;  and  with  this  preliminary  we  are  prepared  to 
consider  the  two  objections  spoken  of  above. 

CONSIDERATION    OF    THE    NINTH    OBJECTION    RESUMED. 

The  first  is,  that  the  earth's  meridians  being  unequal, 
the  ten-millionth  part  of  a  quadrant,  even  if  we  had 
such  a  measure  correctly,  could  be  only  the  ten-mil 
lionth  of  one  particular  quadrant,  so  that  the  ideal  of 
a  natural  standard  everywhere  present  and  belonging 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  103 

equally  to  all  the  world  must  be  abandoned.  Still  it 
cannot  be  denied  that  the  quadrant  chosen,  though  a 
particular  quadrant,  possesses  the  essential  property  of 
a  standard,  that  is  to  say,  invariability,  quite  as  com 
pletely  as  if  all  the  quadrants  were  equal.  If  this 
natural  standard  were  intended  to  be,  or  were  capable 
of  being  made,  a  standard  of  convenient  reference,  and 
not  merely  a  standard  of  value  ;  if,  in  other  words,  a 
tradesman,  suspecting  his  metre  to  be  in  error,  could 
adjust  it  by  simply  stepping  out  of  his  door  and  apply 
ing  it  to  the  earth's  meridian  ;  there  might  be  some 
reason  for  complaint  on  the  part  of  those,  and  they 
would  be  the  majority  of  mankind,  whose  distance 
from  the  standard  would  deprive  them  of  this  facility. 
This  not  being  the  case,  no  practical  disadvantage 
arises  out  of  the  inequality  of  the  meridians,  and  it  is 
only  the  simplicity  of  the  original  conception  that 
suffers. 

THE    TENTH    OBJECTION DISCORDANCE    BETWEEN     THE 

ACTUAL    AND    THE    THEORETICAL    METRE. 

The  second  objection  to  the  base  of  the  system — an 
objection  which  is  often  urged  in  a  tone  which  implies 
that  the  objector  regards  it  as  nothing  less  than  fatal — 
is  that  the  metre  is  not,  after  all,  exactly  the  ten-mil 
lionth  part  of  the  particular  meridian  from  which  it 
was  derived.  It  is  possible  that  it  is  not :  nay,  we 
may  safely  assert  that  it  would  be  nothing  short  of  a 
miracle  if  it  were.  We  have  glanced  at  the  condition 


104  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OP 

of  the  problem  of  the  earth's  figure  and  magnitude  in 
the  hands  of  the  geodesists.  We  have  seen  that  every 
meridian  measurement  which  has  yet  been  made  has 
served  but  to  accumulate  evidence  that  this  figure  is 
not  geometrically  regular,  and  is  not  probably,  if 
words  are  to  be  applied  with  severe  exactness,  either 
spheroidal  or  ellipsoidal.  It  will  easily  be  understood 
that  a  local  irregularity  actually  affecting  but  a  limited 
extent  of  a  terrestrial  arc,  may,  when  it  is  allowed  to 
give  character  to  a  whole  circumference,  lead  to  extra 
ordinary  conclusions  ;  and  we  have  seen  the  fact  that 
it  will  do  so,  illustrated  in  the  examples  cited  from 
Col.  EVEREST  and  others.  What  hope  can  there  be 
that  the  effects  of  such  irregularities  can  be  eliminated 
by  an  investigation  which,  however  admirable  in  prin 
ciple  and  however  ably  wrought  out,  rests  on  a  com 
parison  of  only  forty  latitudes  ?  Not  a  single  geodetic 
measurement  has  yet  been  made  in  all  the  immense 
expanse  of  northern  and  eastern  Asia,  of  northern  and 
central  Africa,  or  of  Australia  and  the  Australasian 
archipelago.  ]\Tor,  except  in  the  small  Peruvian  arc, 
and  the  still  smaller  Pennsylvanian,  which  latter  does 
not  count,  has  the  great  American  continent  made  any 
contribution  to  the  solution  of  the  difficult  problem 
under  consideration.  When  we  consider,  therefore, 
that  the  introduction  of  minute  corrections,  amounting 
only  to  small  fractions  of  seconds,  into  only  a  part  of 
the  data  employed  in  Captain  CLARKE'S  equations, 
suffices  to  modify  the  resulting  dimensions  of  the  earth 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  105 

to  such  an  extent  as  to  produce,  as  we  have  seen,  a 
very  sensible  change  in  the  calculated  value  of  the 
error  of  the  metre,  I  think  that  the  assertion  just  now 
made  will  be  admitted  to  be  perfectly  well  founded, 
i.  e.,  that  if  the  length  given  originally  to  the  metre 
had  been  exactly  the  ten-millionth  part  of  the  Paris 
meridian,  this  result  would  have  been  neither  more  nor 
less  than  a  miracle.  I  may  further  add  that,  even  if 
the  metre  had  been  quite  correct,  its  authors  could  not 
have  known  it  to  be  so,  and  we  should  not  know  it  to 
be  so  now.  When  measurements  shall  have  been 
made  in  those  vast  regions  just  mentioned,  which  have 
not  yet  been  attacked  by  the  geodesists,  and  when, 
instead  of  forty  latitudes,  four  thousand  shall  have 
been  thrown  into  the  hopper  of  Prof.  HUXLEY'S  mill 
(though  I  confess  that  in  such  a  case  I  should  not  be 
envious  of  the  miller's  task),  we  shall  get  out  an  in 
evitably  different  and  a  very  certainly  more  satisfactory 
grist  than  has  yet  been  ground  for  us.  In  the  mean 
time,  we  may  as  well  take  the  metre  as  we  find  it,  and 
not  concern  ourselves  about  this  Protean  and  micro 
scopic  fraction  of  error,  which  has  so  long  been  thrown 
up  to  it  as  a  reproach. 

EVERY  ASSUMED  "NATURAL  STANDARD77  LIABLE  TO  THE 
SAME  OBJECTION,  WHICH  IS  THEREFORE  NO  OBJECTION 
AT  ALL. 

It  is  a  little  remarkable  that  the  objectors  who  find 
the  error  of  the  metre  to  be  so  grave  a  blot  upon  its 


106  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

character,  should  nevertheless  agree  in  urging  us  to 
accept  a  standard  derived  from  another  natural  dimen 
sion  of  the  earth,  equally  invariable  no  doubt  with  the 
quadrant,  but  at  the  same  time  equally  unmeasurable 
—the  polar  axis  or  the  polar  radius.  This  is  a  dimen 
sion  of  which  the  authorities  give  us  as  many  different 
values  as  they  give  of  the  quadrant ;  and  of  which 
they  are  sure  to  give  us  a  new  one  every  time  an  addi 
tion  is  made,  no  matter  how  trivial,  to  the  data  from 
which  it  is  deduced.  The  values  fluctuate  perhaps 
between  narrower  limits  of  variation  ;  and  if  the  ten- 
millionth  part  of  the  earth's  polar  axis  or  the  earth's 
polar  radius  were  our  theoretic  metre,  the  absolute 
error  of  our  practical  metre  would  be  probably  rather 
less  in  proportion  to  its  length,  than  that  of  the  metre 
now  in  use.  But  the  error  would  be  there  none  the 
less  ;  for,  as  before,  it  would  be  nothing  short  of  a 
miracle  if  it  were  not  ;  and  between  two  errors,  both 
of  them  microscopic,  and  neither  of  them  affecting  any 
conceivable  human  interest,  I  see  for  my  own  part 
little  to  choose.  If  the  advocates  of  the  radius  metre 
could  come  to  the  defenders  of  the  quadrant  metre, 
and  say  to  them,  "Here,  you  see  our  metre  has  no 
error  at  all,  and  yours  has  one,77  the  case  would  be  a 
strong  one  ;  but  that  does  not  seem  to  be  the  case. 
Since  these  things  are  so,  why  then,  you  may  inquire, 
should  we  endeavor  to  fix  our  standard  of  length  with 
reference  to  either  axis  or  quadrant  or  any  other 
dimension  which  we  do  not  know,  and  which  it  is  per- 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  107 

fectly  certain  that  we  shall  never  be  able  exactly  to 
ascertain  ?  That,  gentlemen,  is  a  question  which  you 
may  very  well  ask,  but  which  I  shall  not  attempt  to 
answer.  I  accept  the  metre  as  it  is,  not  because  it  is 
the  ten-millionth  part  of  the  French  quadrant  (though, 
according  to  Captain  CLARKE,  it  is  the  ten-millionth 
part  of  the  quadrant  passing  through  New  York,  with 
in  less  than  the  ten- thousandth  part  of  an  inch),  but 
because  it  is  the  actual  base  of  an  admirable  system  of 
weights  and  measures  already  in  use  among  one  hun 
dred  and  sixty  millions  of  people,  rapidly  growing  in 
favor  among  those  who  have  not  yet  adopted  it,  and 
destined  in  my  belief  to  be  sooner  or  later  the  system 
of  all  the  world. 


NO    COERCIVE    MEASURES    DESIRED    IN    BEHALF    OF    THE 
METRIC    SYSTEM. 

But,  gentlemen,  I  do  not  expect  that  this  system 
will  make  its  way  in  the  world  against  the  will  of  the 
people  of  the  world.  I  do  not  expect  that  our  people, 
and  I  do  not  desire  that  any  people,  shall  be  coerced 
into  receiving  it  by  the  force  of  "  imperial  edicts"  or 
by  the  terror  of  bayonets.  What  I  do  expect  is,  that 
they  will  sooner  or  later  welcome  it  as  one  of  the 
greatest  of  social  blessings.  What  I  do  expect  is,  that 
they  will  one  day  become  conscious  of  the  many  in 
conveniences  to  which  they  are  subjected  from  the 
anomalous  numerical  relations  which  connect,  or  rather 


108  -  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

we  might  say,  disjoin,  the  several  parts  of  their  pres 
ent  absurd  system  ;  inconveniences  which  they  have 
learned  to  endure  without  reflecting  on  their  causes  or 
suspecting  that  they  were  unnecessary  in  the  nature  of 
things  ;  and  that  when  fully  at  length  awake  to  the 
slavery  in  which  they  live,  they  will  burst  its  shackles, 
and  rejoice  in  the  deliverance  which  the  metric  system 
brings.  This  cannot  take  place,  of  course,  until  the 
people  are  thoroughly  informed.  There  are  influences, 
therefore,  which  are  now  only  beginning  to  operate, 
which  must  first  have  their  full  course  before  the  re 
sults  I  anticipate  will  make  themselves  manifest. 

EDUCATIONAL    INFLUENCES    TO    BE    INVOKED. 

The  first  and  most  important  of  these  is  the  educa 
tion  of  the  young  to  a  thorough  understanding  of  this 
system,  and  a  perfect  familiarity  with  its  practical  ap 
plications.  The  metric  system  must  be  taught  in  all 
our  schools.  It  ought  of  course  to  be  taught  there,  as 
being  the  system  actually  in  use  among  nearly  or  quite 
half  the  inhabitants  of  the  civilized  world  already, 
and  without  any  regard  to  the  question  whether  it  is 
to  be  ours  or  not.  But  it  ought  to  be  taught,  too, 
with  special  reference  to  this  question,  in  order  that 
another  generation  may  meet  it  and  settle  it  intelli 
gently.  And  I  think  I  hazard  nothing  in  saying,  that 
when  one  generation  shall  have  grown  up,  into  whose 
minds  this  knowledge  shall  have  entered  along  with 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  109 

the  first  rudiments  of  their  learning,  the  question  will 
no  longer  have  two  sides. 


CUSTOMS    DUTIES    TO    BE    LEVIED    ON    THE    BASIS    OF    THE 
METRIC    MEASURES    AND    WEIGHTS. 

But,  in  the  second  place,  the  system  should  be  prac 
tically  illustrated  before  the  eyes  of  our  people,  by 
being  introduced  into  our  custom-houses,  and  made 
the  guide  according  to*  which  duties  are  assessed  and 
collected.  This  measure  will  disturb  the  habits  of  no 
one  in  the  affairs  of  ordinary  life.  Importing  and  ex 
porting  merchants  will  interpose  no  objection  to  the 
change.  On  the  contrary,  they  will  welcome  it  as 
greatly  diminishing  the  amount  of  computation  which 
they  are  now  compelled  to  make.  It  is,  in  fact,  the 
complaint  of  Capt.  PIAZZI  SMYTH,  that  it  was  the 
pressure  of  the  commercial  class  which  came  so  near 
to  making  the  metric  system  the  exclusive  system  in 
England  in  1868.  Our  tariff  laws  will  require  trans 
formation  ;  but  that  transformation  may  be  made 
without  in  any  manner  disturbing  their  essential  pro 
visions  :  so  that  no  trouble  need  arise  from  this  cause. 
What  it  is  here  proposed  to  do  is  nothing  more  nor 
less  than  what  was  actually  done,  some  thirty  years 
ago,  by  all  the  members  of  the  German  Zoll-verein. 
And  though  the  state  of  things  produced  by  it  there 
will  be  superseded  on  the  first  of  January,  next,  by 
the  extension  of  the  metric  system  in  full  over  all  the 


110  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

component  states  of  the  late  North  German  confedera 
tion,  if  not  over  the  entire  German  empire  ;  yet  it 
will  still  exist  in  Austria,  and  will  continue  to  exist  in 
that  empire  until  she,  too,  shall  adopt  the  same  system 
for  her  domestic  affairs  likewise. 


PUBLIC  SURVEYS   TO    BE    CONDUCTED    IN    ACCORDANCE  WITH 
THE    MEASURES    OF    THE    METRIC    SYSTEM. 

By  degrees  our  Federal  government  may  introduce 
the  metric  weights  and  measures  into  our  public  sur 
veys  ;  such  as  the  coast  survey,  the  several  boundary 
surveys,  the  geological,  topographical,  and  land  sur 
veys  of  the  territories,  and  the  surveys  of  the  lakes. 
In  the  published  reports  of  these  works,  or  at  least  in 
such  of  them  as  are  intended  for,  or  are  likely  to  have, 
a  large  circulation  among  the  people,  it  would  be 
advantageous,  and  would  familarize  metric  values  to 
the  popular  apprehension,  if  dimensions,  quantities, 
and  weights  should  be  expressed  both  in  metric  denom 
inations  and  those  of  the  existing  system. 

NAVAL     AND      MILITARY     ESTABLISHMENTS     REQUIRED     TO 
USE    THE  SYSTEM. 

The  metric  weights  and  measures  may  further  be 
introduced  into  actual  use  in  the  navy  yards  and 
military  posts  maintained  by  the  government  in  the 
different  parts  of  our  territory  ;  and,  finally,  the  busi- 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  Ill 

ness  of  the  post  office  department  may  be  largely,  if 
not  wholly,  conducted,  so  far  as  weights  and  measures 
are  concerned,  in  metric  denominations. 

THESE     MEASURES    RECOMMENDED    BY    THE    PARIS    CONFER 
ENCE  OF  1867. 

These  are  measures  which  were  unanimously  recoTii- 
mended  by  the  international  conference  on  weights, 
measures,  and  moneys,  which  was  convened  in  Paris, 
in  1867,  consisting  of  delegates  appointed  by  the 
governments  of  twenty-two  different  nations,  includ 
ing,  of  those  not  using  the  metric  system,  Austria, 
Russia,  Sweden,  Norway,  Denmark,  Turkey,  Great 
Britain,  and  the  United  States.  To  most  of  them,  as 
it  appears  to  me,  there  can  be  no  reasonable  objection, 
even  on  the  part  of  those  who  have  no  admiration  for 
the  metric  system  themselves,  and  no  faith  in  the  pre 
diction  of  its  final  prevalence.  If  nothing  follows 
them,  they  can  at  least  do  no  harm. 

CONCLUSION. 

I  have  occupied,  gentlemen,  a  larger  portion  of  your 
time  than  I  intended,  and  larger,  I  fear,  than  will  have 
seemed  to  you  reasonable.  The  subject  itself  is  a  large 
one,  and  my  interest  in  it  is  deep.  I  am  so  far  from 
pretending  to  have  exhausted  it,  that  I  feel  that  what 
I  have  said  is  but  the  merest  skeleton  of  an  argument. 
I  wish  to  be  indulged  only  in  a  single  additional  re- 


112  THE    METRIC    SYSTEM    OF 

mark,  which  shall  be  in  regard  to  the  able  and  com 
prehensive,  and,  at  times,  eloquent  report  of  Mr.  JOHN 
QUINCY  ADAMS,  which  you  have  republished  in  the 
same  volume  with  the  report  of  your  committee. 

The  original  publication  of  that  report,  able  and 
powerful  as  it  is,  and  for  the  very  reason  that  it  is 
able  and  powerful,  I  esteem  to  have  been  a  serious 
public  misfortune.  It  effectually  extinguished  all  hope 
of  metrological  reform  in  the  United  States  for  half  a 
century.  And  yet  Mr.  ADAMS,  decidedly  as  he  dis 
couraged  any  legislation,  at  least  for  the  time  being, 
and  apparently  for  a  very  long  time,  looking  toward 
the  recognition  of  the  metre  in  America  ;  darkly  as  he 
drew  in  the  lines  as  he  painted  the  picture  of  France 
writhing  in  the  toils  which  the  metric  system  had 
thrown  round  her  ;  and  fondly  as  he  lingered  over  that 
beautiful  system  of  British  weights  and  measures  dis 
tinguished  by  the  priceless  property  of  a  "uniformity 
of  proportion  "  of  which  he  laments  that  there  remain 
to  us  only  the  ruins  ;  Mr.  ADAMS,  after  all,  was  an 
admirer  of  the  metric  system  to  such  an  extent,  that 
one  is  sometimes  at  a  loss  to  d.ecide  whether  he  seems 
to  love  or  to  fear  it  most.  In  the  midst  of  his  doubts 
and  his  misgivings,  he  cannot  refrain  from  occasionally 
enlarging  upon  its  merits,  in  language  strong  enough 
to  satisfy  even  the  most  enthusiastic  of  its  advocates. 
And  when  for  a  moment  he  succeeds  in  forgetting 
France,  and  in  shaking  himself  free  from  the  embarras 
sing  associations  of  the  immediate  present,  he  becomes 


WEIGHTS    AND    MEASURES.  113 

as  it  were  inspired  with  a  spirit  of  prophecy,  under 
the  influence  of  which  he  is  oblivious  of  all  diffi 
culties,  and  glowingly  anticipates  that  very  approach 
ing  triumph  which  his  own  labors  are  destined  so  con 
siderably  to  postpone.  No  words  that  I  can  use  can 
add  to  the  positiveness  of  assertion  with  which  he  pre 
dicts  that  final  consummation  to  which  I  have  declared 
to  you  to-day  that  I  so  confidently  look  forward.  I 
cannot  do  better,  therefore,  in  concluding  these  re 
marks,  to  which  I  thank  you  for  having  so  indulgently 
listened,  than  to  adopt  his  own  language,  and  to  ex 
press  with  him  the  conviction  that,  "If  man  upon 
earth  be  an  improvable  being,  if  that  universal  peace 
which  was  the  object  of  a  Saviour's  mission,  which  is 
the  desire  of  the  philosopher,  the  longing  of  the  phil 
anthropist,  the  trembling  hope  of  the  Christian,  is  a 
blessing  to  which  the  futurity  of  mortal  man  has  a 
claim  of  more  than  mortal  promise  ;  if  the  Spirit  of 
Evil  is,  before  the  final  consummation  of  things,  to  be 
cast  down  from  his  dominion  over  men,  and  bound  in 
the  chains  of  a  thousand  years,  the  foretaste  here  of 
man's  eternal  felicity  ;  then  this  system  of  common 
instruments  to  accomplish  all  the  changes  of  social  and 
friendly  commerce  will  furnish  the  links  of  sympathy 
between  the  inhabitants  of  the  most  distant  regions  ; 
the  metre  will  surround  the  world  in  use  as  well  as  in 
multiplied  extension;  and  one  language  of  weights  and 
measures  will  be  spoken  from  the  equator  to  the 
poles." 


APPENDICES. 


APPENDIX  A. 


NOTE  ON  THE  UNIFICATION  OF  MONEYS. 

(REFERRED  TO  OX  PAGE  24.) 

THE  expediency,  or  rather,  in  fact  the  necessity,  of  treating 
independently  and  separately  the  difficult  question  of  the  unifi 
cation  of  the  monetary  systems  of  the  world,  is  made  imme 
diately  evident  when  we  consider  that,  though  moneys  are 
measures  of  value,  their  relations  to  the  measures  of  material 
quantity  are  not  fixed  by  any  necessary  law.  In  all  systems  of 
ordinary  metrology,  to  settle  the  standard  of  length,  settles  the 
standards  of  capacity  and  weight  as  well ;  but  it  leaves  the 
standard  of  money  still  unsettled,  and  permits  most  widely  dif 
ferent  views  to  be  maintained  on  this  point,  with  almost  equal 
plausibility.  There  are  besides,  as  mentioned  in  the  foot  note  on 
page  twenty-four,  a  number  of  considerations  which  specially 
complicate  the  monetary  problem  ;  and  to  postpone  the  simpler 
question  of  metrological  reform  until  all  these  can  be  disposed 
of  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  nations,  would  be  as  unwise  as  it 
is  unnecessary. 

The  popular  impression  is  undoubtedly  quite  the  reverse  of 
this.  It  is  an  opinion  easily  taken  up  upon  a  primd  facie  view 
of  the  subject,  that  the  pound  sterling  of  Great  Britain,  the 
dollar  of  the  United  States,  and  the  franc  of  the  French  re 
public,  might,  by  the  simplest  process  of  legislation  in  the  world, 
be  reduced  to  a  regular  geometrical  series  of  values.  Hence 
therefore  it  is  probable  that  everybody,  who  knows  anything 
about  these  important  national  money-units  and  the  relations 


113  METRIC    SYSTEM— APPENDIX. 

in  which  they  stand  to  each  other,  has  often  said  to  himself,  in 
the  language  of  one  of  the  resolutions  reported  to  the  Convoca 
tion  of  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York,  by  their  com 
mittee  on  weights,  measures,  and  coinage,  that  "  such  changes 
should  be  made  in  the  values  of  the  franc,  the  dollar,  and  the 
English  pound  sterling,  that  five  francs  be  exactly  equal  in  value 
to  one  dollar,  and  five  dollars  exactly  equal  in  value  to  one 
pound  sterling."  It  was  surely  not  an  observation  so  little  pro 
found  as  this,  that  the  convocation  had  a  right  to  expect  of 
their  committee.  Considered  as  a  help  toward  the  attainment 
of  the  desired  uniformity  of  currencies,  it  rather  reminds  one  of 
good  Mrs.  Nickleby's  very  practical  suggestions  to  her  embar 
rassed  husband.  "My  dear  Nicholas,"  said  this  excellent  lady, 
"  why  don't  you  do  something  ?  Why  don't  you  make  some 
arrangement  ?  " 

The  committee  propose  to  the  convocation  to  resolve  that  the 
discordance  existing  between  the  monetary  systems  of  three  great 
nations  ought  to  disappear.  But  this  is  only  what  all  the  world 
resolved  long  ago  ;  and  therefore  it  has  happened,  that  the  sun 
dry  international  conferences  which  have  been  called  during  the 
last  fifteen  years  to  consider  this  subject,  have  wasted  no  breath 
in  axiomatic  propositions  and  empty  generalities,  but  have  given 
all  their  collected  strength  to  the  study  of  the  knotty  problem, 
how  this  thing  is  to  be  done.  To  the  solution  of  this  problem, 
considered  by  the  ablest  publicists  and  profoundest  financiers 
of  all  nations  to  be  one  of  the  most  perplexing  with  which  legis 
lation  has  to  grapple,  the  committee  might  surely  have  contrib 
uted  something,  had  it  been  only  in  the  way  of  making  known 
the  difficulties  by  which  the  question  is  embarrassed.  This 
would  have  been  better  than,  like  Mrs.  Nickleby,  to  recom 
mend  that  the  nations  should  "  make  some  arrangement." 

Without  attempting  to  exhaust  the  subject,  let  us  hint  at  a 
few  of  these  embarrassments.  The  pound  sterling,  the  dollar, 
and  the  franc  are  respectively  units  of  the  money  of  account 


UNIFICATION    OF    MONEYS.  ]  19 

of  the  peoples  of  Great  Britain,  the  United  States,  and  France. 
The  pound  sterling  is  represented  in  currency  by  a  gold  coin, 
called  a  sovereign;  the  dollar,  by  a  coin  of  either  gold  or  silver, 
called  also  a  dollar;  and  the  franc,  by  a  silver  coin,  bearing  like 
wise  the  name  franc  ;  but  a  coin  of  five  francs  is  struck  either 
in  gold  or  in  silver.  The  British  mint  coins  silver,  but  gold  is 
the  standard  metal,  and  the  silver  coins  are  legal  tenders  only 
for  small  amounts.  In  France  and  the  United  States,  gold  and 
silver  are  both  standard  metals — or  there  exists  legally  what  is 
called  a  double  standard;  hence  all  gold  coins  in  either  country, 
and  all  silver  dollars  in  the  United  States,  or  silver  five  franc 
pieces  in  France,  are  legal  tenders  for  all  amounts.  The  theor 
etic  basis  of  the  French  system  cf  coinage  is  the  silver  franc 
(composed  of  nine  parts  of  pure  silver  to  one  part  of  alloy), 
having  the  metric  weight  of  five  grammes.  This  coin,  which  is 
now  no  longer  issued  from  the  mint,  and  which  has  long  since 
ceased  to  have  a  practical  existence,  was  also  a  legal  tender  for 
any  sums  while  it  lasted.  The  present  silver  currency  of  France, 
with  the  exception  of  the  silver  five-franc  piece,  is  a  debased 
coinage,  and  is  not  legal  tender  except  in  small  transactions. 
Similarly,  the  silver  currency  of  the  United  States  below  the 
silver  dollar,  is,  if  not  debased,  at  least  degraded,  by  being 
diminished  in  weight,  so  that  its  nominal  value  is  greater  than 
its  real  value,  and  it  is  not  a  legal  tender  except  for  trifling 
sums.  Now  the  reason  why  the  silver  legal  tendtrs  have  disap 
peared  from  circulation  in  France  and  the  United  States,  is 
explained  as  follows. 

Since,  to  coins  of  determinate  legal  value,  determinate  weights 
must  be  assigned  and  permanently  maintained,  it  follows  that, 
where  the  double  standard  exists,  the  relative  value  of  gold  and 
silver  must  be  fixed  by  law.  But  the  relative  value  of  these  two 
metals  is  not  fixed  in  the  nature  of  things,  any  more  than  is 
that  of  any  other  two  commodities.  It  varies  with  the  varying 
supplies  of  these  two  metals  respectively,  and  of  the  varying  de- 


120  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

mand  for  them,  not  only  for  the  purposes  of  coinage,  but  also  for 
the  uses  of  luxury  and  of  the  arts.  Accordingly,  in  the  course  of 
the  last  few  centuries,  it  has  widely  fluctuated  in  Europe.  About 
the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  gold  was  worth  in  Eng 
land  only  about  ten  times  as  much  as  the  same  weight  of  silver. 
A  century  later,  the  ratio  stood  as  twelve  and  a  half  to  one. 
The  highest  point  it  has  ever  attained  appears,  by  the  researches 
of  E.  B.  ELLIOTT,  Esq.,  Statistician  to  the  United  States  Treas 
ury  Department,  to  have  been  fifteen  and  eighty-three  one-hun- 
dredths  to  one.  The  same  authority  puts  this  ratio,  now,  at 
fifteen  and  thirty-eight  one-hundredths  to  one.  Now,  the  ratio 
between  legal  tender  silver  and  legal  tender  gold  is,  in  tho 
United  States,  sixteen  to  one.  And  as  a  gold  dollar  will  pay  a 
debt  as  well  as  a  silver  dollar,  while  the  gold  dollar  is  really 
worth  only  fifteen  and  thirty-eight  one-hundredths  times  its  own 
weight  of  silver,  and  the  silver  dollar  weighs  sixteen  times  as 
much  as  the  gold  dollar,  it  is  evidently  for  the  interest  of  the 
holder  of  silver  dollars  to  deprive  them  of  their  character  as 
coins,  by  melting  them  up  ;  and  to  sell  the  resulting  bullion  for 
gold  dollars.  Hence  the  disappearance  of  our  legal  tender  sil 
ver,  and  the  degradation  by  law  of  our  smaller  silver  currency 
to  a  degree  which  brings  down  the  ratio  so  low  as  to  fourteen 
and  eighty-eight  one-hundredths  to  one. 

The  French  have  fixed  the  ratio  between  these  two  metals  at 
fifteen  and  five-tenths  to  one.  This  is  nearer  the  present  truth, 
but  it  is  still  sufficiently  too  high  to  allow  the  circulation  of  legal 
tender  silver  ;  and,  accordingly,  the  legal  tender  silver  franc, 
which  is  the  theoretic  basis  of  the  system  (in  the  absence  of 
which  this  system,  considered  as  a  metrical  system,  is  com 
pletely  fictitious),  has  ceased  to  be  coined,  and  exists  only  in 
name. 

Now,  if  the  law  in  France  which  fixes  the  relative  value  of  the 
two  standard  metals  should  be  slightly  changed,  so  as  to  make 
the  ratio  fifteen  to  one,  it  is  obvious  that  the  silver  five-franc 


UNIFICATION    OF    MONEYS.  121 

pieces,  of  which  many  still  exist,  would  immediately  return  to 
circulation,  and  would  be  in  great  demand;  also,  that  the  legal 
tender  franc  might  again  be  safely  coined,  though  possibly  it 
might  not  be  coined  largely  on  account  of  the  greater  wear  of 
small  coins  by  abrasion.  And  from  this  time  forward  it  is 
equally  obvious  that  gold  would  begin  to  disappear. 

The  impossibility  which  is  thus  seen  to  exist,  of  maintaining 
two  legal  tender  coinages  of  different  metals  side  by  side,  would 
seem  to  most  minds,  at  the  first  examination  of  the  question,  to 
be  a  quite  conclusive  reason  against  the  adoption  of  the  double 
standard.  And  yet  it  is  on  this  very  fact  that  some  of  the  most 
eminent  publicists  of  France  have  founded  their  strongest  argu 
ments  in  defence  of  a  system  so  seemingly  vicious.  At  the 
International  Conference  which  was  called  in  1867,  to  consider 
questions  of  money,  weights  and  measures,  Mr.  WOLOWSKI  urged 
that,  when  the  legal  ratio  is  fixed  nearly  at  the  mean  actual 
ratio,  the  tendency,  in  case  of  fluctuations,  to  bring  at  one  time 
one  metal  into  demand,  and  at  another  time  another,  exerts  a 
steadying  effect  upon  values,  and  operates  to  retard  these  fluc 
tuations,  and  to  diminish  their  extent. 

Now  there  is  solid  reason  in  the  view  thus  taken  ;  and  if  the 
tendency  spoken  of  were  to  be  left  undisturbed,  it  would  cer 
tainly  temper,  if  not  entirely  obviate,  the  undeniable  evils  at 
tendant  on  the  double  standard.  But,  historically,  it  is  certain 
that  this  tendency  has  never  been  left  undisturbed;  and  there  is 
therefore  good  reason  to  believe  that  it  never  will  be.  The  fact 
has  constantly  been,  that,  so  soon  as  one  of  the  metals  has  begun 
to  be  crowded  out  of  circulation,  the  attempt  has  been  made  to 
legislate  it  back  by  degrading  or  debasing  the  coinage  in  that 
metal.  And  thus  the  maintenance  of  the  double  standard, 
instead  of  maintaining  the  equilibrium  of  ratios,  as  imagined  by 
Mr.  WOLOWSKI,  operates  as  a  constant  temptation  to  the  com 
mission  of  the  gravest  of  all  possible  errors  of  legislation  in 
matters  of  finance. 


122  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

But,  obviously,  we  are  in  no  condition  to  agree  upon  a  com 
mon  system  of  money  for  all  the  world,  until  we  can,  at  least, 
agree  first  upon  a  common  representative  standard  of  money 
values.  The  French  begin  with  a  silver  franc  of  determinate 
fineness  and  simple  determinate  metric  weight.  From  this,  by  a 
numerical  relation  of  values,  entirely  arbitrary  and  artificial,  they 
deduce  the  weight  of  the  one-franc  theoretical,  or  of  the  five-franc 
piece  actual,  of  gold  of  similar  fineness  ;  which  weight  is  fifty 
thirty-first  parts  of  one  gramme— a  quantity  no  longer  simply 
metrical,  nor  expressible  by  a  finite  decimal.  But  this  five-franc 
piece  of  gold,  which  is  not  metrical  in  weight,  the  Paris  Confer 
ence  of  18G7  recommended  to  the  world  as  the  basis  of  an  inter 
national  coinage  ;  making  this  recommendation  in  the  same 
breath  in  which  they  recommended  the  universal  adoption  of 
the  metric  system  of  weights  and  measures. 

It  is  manifest  that  the  double  standard  cannot  be  maintained. 
But  supposing  the  double  standard  abandoned,  it  does  not  fol 
low  that  the  single  standard  of  gold  will  be  immediately  and 
universally  accepted.  Of  nations  recognizing  but  a  single 
standard,  some,  like  Holland,  prefer  silver  to  gold.  It  is  notori 
ous  that  the  Oriental  peoples,  who  have  absorbed  the  silver 
dollar  coinage  of  Spain,  Mexico,  and  the  United  States,  as  fast 
as  it  could  be  produced,  have  always  steadily  refused  the  sover 
eigns  and  the  eagles  and  the  doubloons  and  the  napoleons. 
Before  we  can  proceed  a  step,  therefore,  toward  the  creation  of 
an  international  monetary  system,  we  must  not  only  agree  upon 
a  single  standard,  but  agree  also  what  that  standard  shall  be. 

But  such  an  agreement  is  by  no  means  so  simple  a  matter  to 
reach  as  it  seems.  Notwithstanding  that  the  drift  of  opinion 
among  statesmen  and  authorities  on  finance  is  decidedly  towards 
gold,  the  need  of  a  coin  which  will  be  received  by  the  people  of 
China  and  Japan  is  one  which  must  be  met ;  while  the  metric 
nations  of  France,  Belgium,  Italy,  and  Switzerland,  who  are 
allied  for  the  maintenance  of  a  common  monetary  system,  will 


UNIFICATION    OF    MONEYS.  123 

abandon  very  reluctantly,  if  at  all,  the  alternative  silver  stand 
ard  ;  since,  in  abolishing  that,  they  must  abolish  at  the  same 
time  the  agreeable  fiction  which  maintains  their  coinage  in 
decimal  relations  with  the  metric  system  of  weights  and 
measures — one  ideal  napoleon  of  silver  weighing  exactly  one 
hundred  grammes,  while  one  actual  napoleon  of  gold  weighs 
6.4516129  -\-  grammes,  the  decimal  being  without  end. 

But,  supposing  this  difficulty  to  be  somehow  or  other  disposed 
of,  we  presently  encounter  another,  usually  quite  overlooked  in 
popular  or  conversational  discussions  of  this  subject — a  difficulty 
which,  nevertheless,  is  grave  enough  to  require  no  small  effort  to 
remove  it.  It  is  well  known  that  the  precious  metals,  when  in  a 
state  of  purity,  are  too  soft  to  be  advantageously  employed  as 
the  material  for  coinage.  Their  alloys  offer  greater  resistance 
to  abrasion,  and  therefore  wear  longer.  On  this  account  such 
alloys  are  preferred,  for  the  uses  of  the  mint,  to  the  pure  metals. 
But  as  the  weight  of  pure  metal  (gold  or  silver)  in  a  coin  deter 
mines  its  value,  so  the  total  weight  of  any  given  coin  must  be 
increased  in  proportion  as  the  metal  of  which  it  is  composed  is 
more  largely  alloyed.  It  is  therefore  obviously  advisable  to 
introduce  as  small  an  amount  of  base  metal  into  the  compound 
as  practicable,  consistently  with  the  attainment  of  the  desired 
hardness.  But  the  question,  what  are  the  proportions  which 
under  a  given  value  combine  the  maximum  of  durability  with 
the  minimum  of  weight,  is  one  which,  as  a  question  of  pure 
science,  has  not  yet  been  solved.  Accordingly,  the  statutory 
provisions  established  by  different  governments  in  regard  to  the 
standard  fineness  of  their  coins,  are  widely  discordant.  For 
coins  of  gold,  the  proportion  of  nine  parts  of  the  precious  metal 
to  one  part  of  alloy  has  been  adopted  by  our  own  country,  and 
by  France,  Belgium,  Italy,  Switzerland,  Prussia,  Bavaria,  and 
Spain.  Austria  employs  the  same  for  her  gold  crown  and  half- 
crown,  and  Holland  for  her  double-William  and  its  sub-multi 
ples.  But  for  her  ducat  and  double-ducat,  Holland  employs  an 


124  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

alloy  containing  fifty-nine  parts  of  pure  gold  to  one  of  alloy  ; 
and  Austria,  for  a  coin  of  the  same  name,  prescribes  a  fineness 
of  seventy-one  parts  of  pure  gold  out  of  seventy-two  of  total 
weight.  This  latter  is  also  the  proportion  employed  in  the  gold 
coins  of  Wurtemberg. 

The  standard  of  fineness  in  use  in  Great  Britain,  Portugal, 
Brazil,  and  Turkey,  consists  of  eleven  parts  of  pure  gold  to  one 
of  base  metal  ;  and  that  of  Sweden,  of  thirty-nine  parts  of  pure 
gold  to  one  of  the  alloy.  In  other  countries  the  standard  falls 
below  nine-tenths.  In  Denmark  it  is  eight  hundred  and  ninety- 
five  one-thousandths  ;  in  Russia,  eighty-eight  one-hundredths  ; 
in  Mexico  it  is  different  in  different  coins,  being  eight  hun 
dred  and  seventy-five  one-thousandths  in  the  piece  of  twenty 
pesos,  and  eight  hundred  and  sixty-six  one-thousandths  in 
the  doubloon  ;  in  Bolivia  it  is  eighty-seven  one-hunclredths  ; 
in  Ecuador,  eight  hundred  and  forty-four  one  thousandths ;  and 
so  on,  reaching  in  the  Japanese  cobang  the  extreme  debasement 
represented  by  five  hundred  and  seventy-two  parts  of  pure  gold 
to  four  hundred  and  twenty-eight  of  alloying  metal. 

Similar  diversity  of  legislation  is  observable  in  regard  to 
silver  coins  ;  but  as  to  these  there  is  a  more  general  conformity 
to  the  standard  of  nine-tenths.  Such  is  the  fineness  of  the  large 
silver  coins  of  the  United  States,  and  of  France,  Belgium,  Italy, 
Switzerland,  Prussia,  Bavaria,  Wurtemberg,  Baden,  Hesse 
Darmstadt,  Austria,  and  Spain ;  while  England  employs  an 
alloy  of  thirty-seven  fortieths;  and  Holland,  one  of  nine  hundred 
and  forty-five  one-thousandths.  In  other  countries  the  stand 
ard  is  generally  lower;  and  in  most  or  all  of  those  above  named, 
the  subsidiary  silver  coinage  is  materially  less  fine. 

As  the  several  German  States  named  in  the  foregoing  para 
graphs  are  now  members  of  the  German  empire,  the  diversities 
noticed  among  them  will  probably  soon  disappear.  There 
appears  to  be  everywhere  a  growing  disposition  to  adopt  the 
uniform  standard  of  nine-tenths.  But  to  change  a  standard  of 


UNIFICATION    OF    MONEYS.  125 

this  kind  is  by  no  means  so  simple  a  thing  as  it  seems.  Sup 
pose,  for  instance,  there  happens  to  be  already  a  vast  existing 
coinage,  circulating  among  a  people  who  propose  to  make  such 
a  change.  The  modification  of  the  standard  changes  the  appear 
ance  of  the  coin  to  the  eye  (the  color,  in  the  case  of  gold)  and 
changes  also  the  weight,  without,  nevertheless,  changing  the 
value.  Both  these  changes  are  disadvantageous  to  the  freedom 
of  circulation.  In  our  own  country,  for  example,  differences  of 
color  between  different  coinages  of  eagles  and  double-eagles, 
arising  out  of  the  fact  that,  in  the  refining  of  the  native  gold,  the 
metals  naturally  associated  with  this  have  not  always  been 
separated  with  equal  thoroughness  (though  the  residual  im 
purity  has  always  been  carefully  determined  and  allowed  for  as 
part  of  the  alloy),  have  been  regarded  by  the  director  of  our 
mint,  Gov.  POLLOCK,  to  be  sufficiently  prejudicial  to  the  character 
of  the  coin  to  call  for  notice  in  his  communications  to  the  Treas 
ury  Department,  and  to  require  measures  to  be  taken  for  their 
correction.  But  the  difference  in  the  weight  of  coins  produced  by 
varying  the  proportions  of  the  alloy,  is  the  occasion  of  a  much 
more  serious  disadvantage.  To  count  out  coined  money  in  large 
sums  is  a  very  time-consuming  operation.  In  minting  establish 
ments  and  in  great  banks  of  deposit,  there  may  be,  and  in  the 
former  case  there  usually  will  be,  found  mechanical  contriv 
ances  for  counting  by  hundreds  of  pieces  at  once  (available,  how 
ever,  only  when  the  coins  are  all  of  the  same  denomination) ;  but 
it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  tradesmen,  merchants,  or  even 
bankers  generally  can  be  provided  with  such  conveniences.  Coins, 
when  transferred  from  hand  to  hand  in  large  masses,  are  there 
fore  rarely  counted.  They  are  simply  weighed  in  bulk  ;  and  the 
weight,  when  the  composition  is  uniform,  is  an  infallible  indica 
tion  of  the  value.  But  this  cannot  be  the  case  if  the  mass  consist 
of  mixed  coins,  some  of  them  of  one  degree  of  fineness  and  some 
of  another.  Hence,  whenever  the  standard  of  fineness  is  changed 
by  law,  it  becomes  desirable  and  even  almost  necessary,  to  with- 


126  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

draw  from  circulation  all  the  legal  tender  coinage  in  the  same 
nietal  already  in  existence.  This  consideration  is  one  of  no 
trilling  importance  to  a  people  who,  like  the  British  people,  have 
no  less  than  eighty  millions  of  pounds  sterling — say  four  hun 
dred  millions  of  dollars — in  the  form  of  gold  sovereigns  and  half 
sovereigns.  This  is  the  estimate  of  the  existing  British  gold 
coinage,  as  made  by  the  eminent  statistician,  Prof.  JEVONS,  in  a 
communication  made  in  1868  to  the  Statistical  Society  of  Lon 
don,  and  corroborated  by  Mr.  MILLER,  of  the  Bank  of  England, 
who  is  quoted  as  authority  to  this  effect  by  Dr.  FARE,  delegate 
from  Great  Britain  to  the  International  Statistical  Congress, 
held  at  the  Hague,  in  1869,  in  a  report  made  by  him  to  that 
body.  It  may  easily  be  conceived  that  Great  Britain  would 
bring  herself  reluctantly  to  the  adoption  of  the  standard  of 
nine-tenths,  even  though  convinced  that  it  is  a  better  standard 
than  that  which  she  employs  at  present.  Her  delegates  to  the 
International  Conference  of  1867  gave  their  assent  to  the 
proposition  favoring  the  nine -tenths  standard,  though  not  con 
cealing  their  preference  for  their  own,*  solely,  as  it  would 
appear,  because  they  saw  no  hope  of  a  general  agreement  upon 
any  other. 

But  let  us  suppose  that  we  have  got  over  the  difficulty  of 
the  standard  metal,  and  of  the  double  or  single  standard,  and 
also  over  any  difficulty  as  to  the  standard  of  fineness  ;  we 
find  yet  behind  a  difficulty  far  more  troublesome.  The  visible 
representative  of  our  unit  of  account  is  to  be,  we  will  say,  a  coin 
of  gold  of  the  fineness  of  nine- tenths  ;  the  question  now  arises, 
what  shall  be  the  weight  of  this  coin  ?  It  is  easy  to  see  that 
this  question  may  be  so  answered  as  to  demonetize  at  once  the 
entire  metallic  currency  of  the  world  ;  and  that,  if  we  are  ever  to 
have  an  universally  accepted  international  coinage,  it  must  be 


*  Report  of  the  Master  of  the  Mint.  Sir  THOMAS  GRAHAM,  and  Mr.  C.  RIVERS  WILSON,  delegates 
to  the  International  Monetary  Conference,  made  Dec.  2,  1867,  to  the  Lords  Commissioners  of  the 
Treasury. 


UNIFICATION    OF    MONEYS.  127 

so  answered  as  to  produce,  to  some  extent,  and,  it  may  be,  to  a 
large  extent,  an  effect  of  this  kind.  To  touch  an  interest  of  so 
vast  magnitude  as  the  coinage  of  the  world,  is  a  thing  which,  to 
be  done  safely,  must  be  done  cautiously.  It  is  a  low  estimate,  to 
place  the  value  of  the  gold  and  silver  coin  now  existing  at  twenty- 
five  hundred  millions  of  dollars.  This  is  the  estimate  of  Mr. 
McCuLLOCH,  in  the  article  on  the  "Precious  Metals,"  contributed 
by  him  to  the  Encyclopedia  Bntannica.  But  in  this  he  attributes 
to  Great  Britain  only  from  seventy  to  seventy-five  millions  ster 
ling  of  coin  in  both  gold  and  silver,  taken  together;  while  Pro 
fessor  JEVONS  and  Mr.  MILLER,  as  we  have  seen,  place  the  gold 
alone  as  high  as  eighty  millions,  while  putting  the  silver  coinage 
at  fourteen  millions:  thus  making  a  total  of  ninety-four  millions. 
The  coinage  of  France  Mr.  McCuLLOCH  puts  at  from  one  hun 
dred  and  thirty  to  one  hundred  and  forty  millions  sterling. 
That  of  the  rest  of  Europe,  of  North  and  South  America,  of 
Australia,  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  of  Algeria  united,  he 
supposes  may  equal  three  hundred  millions  ;  so  that,  summing 
up  all  these  several  estimates,  he  would  make  out  a  grand  total 
for  the  world,  excluding  Asia  and  all  Africa  excepting  Algeria 
and  the  Cape,  falling  somewhere  between  four  hundred  and 
ninety  and  five  hundred  and  ten  millions — say  in  round  num 
bers  five  hundred  millions,  which  is  the  mean  of  the  two,  and  is 
nearly  equivalent  to  twenty -five  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  as 
above. 

From  statements  made  by  the  Hon.  SAMUEL  B.  RUGGLES,  the  dis 
tinguished  representative  of  the  United  States  at  the  International 
Monetary  Conference  of  1867,  in  a  written  argument  addressed 
to  the  conference,  we  should  be  justified  in  carrying  the  total 
much  higher,  perhaps  to  not  less  than  three  thousand  millions 
of  dollars.  Mr.  KUGGLES  stated  that  the  mint  of  the  United 
States  had  coined,  up  to  that  time,  eight  hundred  and  forty-five 
millions  of  dollars,  in  all ;  and  that,  of  this  sum,  probably  three 
hundred  millions  still  remained  in  the  country.  He  took  the 


128  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

estimates  of  DE  PAEIEU  for  France,  Belgium,  and  Italy,  at  four 
teen  hundred  millions;  and  allowing  four  hundred  millions  more 
for  the  remaining  countries  of  continental  Europe,  he  made  the 
total  for  the  continent  entire,  eighteen  hundred  millions.  This 
last  assumption  is  considerably  more  than  justified  by  the  esti 
mates  of  McCuLLOCH,  since  the  latter  authority  puts  down  Russia 
alone  for  two  hundred  and  seventy  millions  of  dollars  ;  which 
would  leave,  comparing  this  statement  with  that  of  Mr.  EUGGLES, 
only  one  hundred  and  thirty  millions  for  Spain,  Portugal,  Hol 
land,  Denmark,  Sweden,  Norway,  Switzerland,  Austria,  Turkey, 
and  all  Germany. 

Taking,  however,  the  eighteen  hundred  millions  of  this  report 
of  Mr.  RUGGLES  as  the  total  for  continental  Europe,  and  his  three 
hundred  millions  as  a  proper  estimate  for  the  United  States,  with 
the  four  hundred  millions  of  McCuLLOCH  for  Great  Britain,  we 
shall  have  the  twenty-five  hundred  millions  complete,  without 
going  any  further,  or  making  any  allowance  for  Mexico,  British 
America,  the  West  India  Islands,  Central  America,  South  Ame 
rica,  Australia,  the  Cape,  Algeria,  or  Egypt.  Considering  that 
we  have,  among  these,  some  of  the  principal  gold  producing  and 
silver  producing  states  of  the  world,  it  is  a  small  estimate  to 
suppose  that  they  have  among  them  the  five  hundred  millions 
necessary  to  bring  up  this  result  to  the  round  total  of  three 
thousand  millions,  named  above.  It  must  further  be  noted  that 
no  account  is  taken  in  either  of  these  estimates  of  British  India, 
or  of  China  and  Japan,  which  latter  countries  have  been  large 
recipients  of  the  silver  coin  of  Europe  and  America. 

A  more  recent  and  very  carefully  considered  estimate  by  Mr. 
RUGGLES,  embraced  in  his  supplementary  report,  as  delegate  to 
the  International  Monetary  Conference  above  mentioned,  made 
April  8,  1870,  to  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States, 
reduces  this  total  to  twenty-five  hundred  and  fifty  millions  of 
dollars.  As  this  estimate  classifies  the  nations  in  groups  as 
using  the  gold  franc,  the  gold  dollar,  the  gold  sovereign,  or 


UNIFICATION    OF    MONEYS.  129 

other  coins  of  gold,  it  has  an  important  practical  interest  in 
connection  with  the  question  of  the  unification  of  coinage.  Mr. 
RUGGLES  says  : 

"According  to  the  estimates  of  political  economists  and 
bankers  in  Europe  and  the  United  States,  believed  to  be  reliable, 
the  amount  of  gold  coin  now  outstanding,  in  the  various  parts 
of  Europe  and  America,  is  in  round  numbers  :* 

"I.  In  France,  Belgium,  Switzerland,  Italy 

and  Pontifical  States,  using  the  gold  franc  $1,250,000,000 

"II.  In  Austria,  Spain,  Sweden,  Greece  and 

Roumania,  agreeing  to  use  the  franc 200,000,000 

$1,450,000,000 
"III.  In    the    United    Kingdom    using    the 

sovereign 450,000,000 

"VI.  In  the  United  States  using  the  gold 

dollar 200,000,000 

"V.  In  Germany,  (North  and  South,)  Nether 
lands,  Denmark,  Norway,  Portugal,  Russia 
and  Turkey  using  other  gold  coins,  all 
differing  in  value 300,000,000 

$2,400,000,000 

"  YI.  In  Canada,  Mexico,  Central  America  and 
South  America  using  sovereigns,  dollars, 
doubloons  and  various  other  gold  coins.  .  150,000,000 

$2,550,000,000 


*  To  make  the  exhibit  complete,  the  following  statement  of  the  population  and  foreign  com 
merce  of  the  several  groups  of  nations  above  given,  should  be  added.  It  is  derived  also  from  the 
report  of  Mr.  RUGGLES  referred  to. 

Population.  Foreign  Commerce.^  Gold  Coin  Outstanding. 

Using  the  franc 135, 700,000  $1,648,000,000                 $1,250,000,000 

pound 30,400.000  1,251,500,000                       450,000,000 

"          d  ollar 38, 555, 983  438, 500, 000                       200, 000. 000 

"          other  gold  coins....  135, 500, 000  852,000,000                       300,000,000 

"          various  coins 373,600,000  240,000,000                       150,000,000 

\  Deducting  duplications:  in  the  full  statistics  of  commerce,  the  same  values  appear  twice. 


130  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

It  is  evident  from  the  foregoing,  that  great  exactness  is  not 
yet  attainable  in  the  statistics  of  this  subject.  What  can  only  be 
exactly  known  are  the  issues  of  the  several  mints.  The  his 
tory  of  those  issues  after  they  have  passed  into  private  hands, 
is  not  easily  traced.  Dr.  FARE,  in  his  valuable  and  elaborate 
report,  above  spoken  of,  to  the  Statistical  Congress  at  the  Hague, 
gives  the  methods  and  results  of  some  interesting  investigations 
concerning  the  average  life  of  the  British  gold  sovereign.  Such 
inquiries  throw  much  light  upon  the  subject  ;  but  as  the  con 
ditions  of  the  life  of  coin  are  not  necessarily  the  same  in  all 
countries,  they  must  be  prosecuted  longer  and  more  generally 
before  they  can  be  regarded  as  having  acquired  for  this  branch 
of  statistics  the  character  of  an  exact  science. 

Yet,  whatever  may  be  the  degree  of  confidence  or  of  doubt 
with  which  we  speak  in  definite  terms  of  the  immense  values 
actually  existing  in  the  world  in  the  shape  of  coin,  we  can  enter 
tain  no  doubt  at  all  that  these  values  are  really  immense.  And 
hence  we  perceive  the  serious  gravity  of  the  interests  liable  to 
be  affected  by  the  answer  which  may  be  given  to  the  question, 
what  shall  be  the  weight  of  the  visible  representative  of  the 
international  monetary  unit?  The  persons  who  settle  great 
questions  of  international  coinage  over  the  breakfast-table,  or 
block  out  schemes  for  the  reconciliation  of  discordant  monetary 
systems  in  their  moments  of  leisure  or  recreation,  frequent 
ly  express  impatience  of  the  sluggishness  with  which  the  world 
advances  in  a  path  so  plain  ;  and  account,  perhaps,  for  the 
phenomenon,  on  theories  of  the  indifference  or  unskilfulness  of 
diplomatists,  or  of  the  obstinacy  of  ministers.  It  rarely  occurs 
to  such  persons  to  consider  that  diplomatists  and  ministers  have, 
in  fact,  as  great  an  interest  in  the  happy  solution  of  this  im 
portant  question  as  they;  and  are,  perhaps,  making  progress  as 
rapidly  as  they  themselves  would  be  likely  to  do,  if  they  had  the 
management  of  the  whole  business  in  their  own  hands.  The 
grave  fact,  which  has  rendered  unavailing  the  labors  of  all  the 


UNIFICATION    OF    MONEYS.  131 

international  monetary  conferences  of  the  last  fifteen  years,  lias 
been,  that  no  common  currency  can  be  adopted  by  the  nations, 
without  condemning  the  entire  coinage  of  one  or  another  of 
them,  and  perhaps  of  several,  to  the  melting  pot.  This  consid 
eration,  and  the  consequences  it  involves  affecting  the  liquida 
tion  of  existing  debts  in  coin  of  altered  weight,  determined  the 
State  Department  of  our  own  country  to  propose  to  the  govern 
ments  of  Europe,  about  a  year  ago,  a  plan  for  giving  to  the  gold 
coin  of  all  nations  an  international  circulation,  without  essen 
tially  altering  their  present  actual  weights  or  values.  The  plan 
here  referred  to  consists  in  assuming  a  common  unit  of 'value  so 
small,  that  the  most  important  gold  coins  of  all  nations  may  be 
made,  by  slight  changes,  exact  multiples  of  this.  And  in  order 
to  avoid  any  embarrassment  from  diversity  in  the  standards  of 
fineness,  it  also  proposed  to  make  the  unit  a  definite  weight,  not 
of  alloyed  gold,  but  of  pure  gold.  The  unit  weight  proposed  was 
one  decigramme.  The  value  of  one  decigramme  of  pure  gold  is 
very  nearly  six  and  two-thirds  cents.  The  gold  dollar  contains 
of  such  pure  metal  fifteen  decigrammes  and  a  little  more  than 
forty-six  one-thousandths  of  a  decigramme.  By  dropping  the 
small  fraction  in  excess  of  fifteen  decigrammes,  the  value  of  which 
is  but  thirty-one  one-hundredths  of  a  cent,  the  dollar  becomes 
just  fifteen  times  the  unit ;  and  the  half-eagle,  seventy-five  times 
the  unit.  The  sovereign,  by  a  similar  slight  adjustment,  becomes 
equal  to  seventy- three  times  the  unit ;  the  napoleon,  to  fifty- 
eight  times  the  unit ;  the  double  ducat  of  Austria,  to  sixty-nine 
times  the  unit ;  and  so  on  with  respect  to  other  coins. 

The  merit  of  this  scheme,  and  it  is  not  a  small  one,  is,  that  it 
would  bring  the  monetary  units  of  the  different  nations  into  re 
lations  of  commensurability,  without  impairing  the  usefulness  for 
the  purposes  of  money  of  the  coin  actually  in  existence.  The 
disadvantages  attending  it  are,  that  the  ratios  of  commensura 
bility  which  it  establishes  are  lacking  in  the  simplicity  which  is 
the  indispensable  condition  of  practical  usefulness  ;  and  that  the 


132  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

diversity  of  alloys  employed  in  the  coins  of  the  different  nations 
must  always  prevent  any  national  coinage  from  securing  a  free 
international  circulation.  This  scheme,  therefore,  though  simple 
and  at  first  view  seemingly  feasible,  does  not  appear,  upon 
mature  consideration,  to  offer  an  adequate  solution  of  the  diffi 
cult  problem  before  us. 

Other  propositions,  looking  to  the  same  end,  have  been  : 

1.  To  adopt  as  a  unit  of  account  the  value  of  some  convenient 
coin    now  actually  existing,  with   its    corresponding  weight   in 
gold  ;  a  proposition  which  is  equivalent  to  requiring  that  all  the 
systems  of  coinage  now  in  use,  except  one,  shall  be  abandoned  ; 
and  that  this  one,  from   being   simply  national,  shall   become 
international  and  universal. 

2.  To  adopt  a  value  represented  by  no  coin  at  present,  but  of 
which  the  representative  in  gold  shall  be  the  unit  base  of  such 
system  of  weights  as  may  be  adopted  for  international  use  (say 
the  metric  system),  or  shall  bear  a  decimal  relation  to  that  base. 

3.  To  adopt  a  value  of  which  the  representative  in  gold  shall 
be  in  simple,  though  not  necessarily  in  decimal,  relation  to  the 
base  unit  of  the  system  of  weights  ;   and  which  shall  itself  be 
such  that  the  coinage  of  the  principal  commercial  nations  may 
be  conformed  to  it  without  very  large  changes  of  weight. 

In  considering  the  first  of  these  propositions,  no  existing 
coins  will  be  likely  to  suggest  themselves  as  possessing  claims 
worth  attention,  except  the  gold  piece  of  five  francs,  the  gold 
dollar,  or  the  gold  sovereign.  The  sovereign,  out  of  England,  is 
likely  to  find  no  support ;  being  elsewhere  regarded  generally  as 
representing  too  large  a  value  to  be  conveniently  employed  as 
a  unit  of  account.  In  fact,  the  British  commissioners  to  the 
international  conferences  have  themselves  proposed,  rather,  a 
determinate  part  of  the  pound  sterling — as  an  eight-shilling 
piece,  for  example — than  the  pound  sterling  itself.  The  piece  of 
five  francs,  with  its  present  actual  weight,  and  actual  fineness  of 


UNIFICATION    OF    MONEYS:  133 

nine-tenths,  was  recommended  as  the  international  unit  by  the 
monetary  conference  of  all  nations,  held  at  Paris  in  1867;  and  it 
is  now  warmly  advocated  by  men  eminent  as  statesmen,  statisti 
cians,  and  publicists,  in  the  United  States  and  on  the  continent 
of  Europe.  The  representatives  of  France  in  that  conference 
went  even  so  far,  in  the  .ardor  of  their  desire  to  win  over  other 
nations  to  a  measure  so  nattering  to  their  country,  as  to  consent 
to  the  abolition  of  the  double  standard  and  the  adoption  of  the 
gold  standard  only  ;  although  by  so  doing  they  would  be  com 
pelled  to  sever  the  connection  between  their  monetary  system 
and  their  system  of  weights  and  measures  ;  thus  presenting 
to  the  world  the  remarkable  spectacle  of  the  first  of  metric  na 
tions  recommending  and  advocating  a  non-metric  coinage. 

It  is  not,  however,  to  any  sentiment  of  a  merely  selfish  nature, 
that  this  important  concession  on  the  part  of  these  gentle 
men  is  to  be  ascribed.  The  result  must  rather  be  regarded 
as  a  reluctant  sacrifice  of  a  cherished  ideal,  to  what  seemed  to 
them,  at  least,  the  constraining  force  of  accomplished  facts.  Some 
idea  of  the  weight  of  the  considerations  which  led  them  to  their 
conclusion,  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  summary  of  the 
debate  in  the  conference,  given  by  Mr.  RUGGLES  in  his  supple 
mentary  report  of  April  8,  1870. 

"The  debates  were  systematically  conducted  by  means  of 
questions  methodically  and  carefully  arranged.  They  were  com 
menced  by  the  discussion  much  at  length  of  the  following  pre 
liminary  and  comprehensive  question  : 

"  '  By  what  means  is  it  most  easy  to  realize  monetary  unifica 
tion  :  whether  by  the  creation  of  a  system  altogether  new  and 
independent  of  existing  systems  ;  or  by  the  mutual  coordination 
of  existing  systems,  taking  into  account  the  scientific  advantages 
of  certain  types  and  the  number  of  the  populations  which  have 
already  adopted  them  ?' 

"  On  this  cardinal  question,  the  debate  was  prolonged  and 
important,  in  which  the  delegates  from  many  of  the  nations 


134  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

took  part.  It  was  commenced  by  M.  MEES,  delegate  from  the 
Netherlands  and  President  of  the  Netherlands  Bank,  who 
'  declared  that  if  he  could  admit  the  immediate  realization  of 
the  unification  of  coinage,  he  would  give  the  preference  to  the 
first  of  the  two  alternatives.  In  this  case,  in  effect,  the  creation 
of  a  new  system,  avoiding  all  national  susceptibilities,  would 
seem  to  him  the  best  way  to  obtain  the  end.  But  it  does  not 
seem  possible  to  him,  that  complete  uniformity  can  be  speedily 
attained,  and  therefore  he  considers  the  second  alternative  as 
being  alone  of  a  nature  to  produce  actual  practical  results.' 

"  The  Count  D'AVILA,  delegate  from  Portugal,  and  recently  its 
Minister  of  Finance,  maintained  that  '  if  the  different  States 
found  themselves  obliged  by  the  establishment  of  a  system 
altogether  novel  to  change  simultaneously  their  monetary  regu 
lations,  the  difficulties  of  the  attempt  would  be  multiplied  in 
such  manner  that  they  would  become  insurmountable.'  He 
further  deemed  it  '  essential  that  an  agreement  should  take 
place  between  England,  France,  and  the  United  States,'  that  it 
'  would  sooner  or  later  rally  also  the  other  countries,'  and  that 
the  'example  would  have  a  decisive  effect.'  He  declared  himself 
ready  to  vote  for  a  single  gold  standard,  the  reduction  of  the 
pound  sterling  to  twenty-five  francs,  and  the  American  dollar  to 
five  francs,  with  the  gold  coin  of  five  francs  as  the  monetary 
unit. 

"  The  delegate  from  Austria,  the  late  Baron  DE  HOCK,  favor 
ably  known  by  his  works  on  finance,  concurred  in  the  opinion 
expressed  as  to  the  impossibility  of  securing  the  acceptance  of 
an  entirely  new  system,  and  completely  breaking  up  inveterate 
habits.  '  In  Germany,'  said  he,  '  we  find  a  striking  example  : 
there  was  a  wish  to  introduce  into  the  German  States  a  coin  not 
correspondent  with  any  existing  types.  Although  it  was  the 
most  rational  and  accorded  perfectly  with  the  metric  system,  it 
could  not  find  its  way  into  calculations.  The  gold  crown  only 
passed  from  the  mint  into  the  melting  pots  of  the  goldsmiths. 


UNIFICATION    OF    MONEYS.  135 

It  is  only  as  expressed  in  the  second  sentence  of  the  first  ques 
tion,  by  the  mutual  coordination  of  existing  legislation,  by 
taking  into  account  the  scientific  advantages  of  certain  types, 
and  the  number  of  the  populations  which  have  already  adopted 
them,  that  a  solution  may  be  found.'  He  added  that  gold, 
'  which  has  spread  in  such  considerable  amounts  through  the 
European  markets  during  the  last  twenty  years,  would  be  the 
most  convenient  agent  for  a  universal  monetary  circulation.' 

"  M.  FEER  HERZOG,  one  of  the  two  delegates  from  Switzerland 
and  familiar  with  its  financial  affairs,  said  that  '  there  is  in 
France  a  school  important  because  of  the  scientific  authority  of 
its  adepts,  which  admits  no  other  monetary  unity  than  metric 
unity  in  round  numbers,  and  proposes  to  take  for  the  unit  a 
weight  of  five  grams  of  gold,  nine-tenths  fine,'  (equivalent  to 
$2.991°a9u  of  the  present  money  of  the  United  States).  'This 
theoretic  solution  would  be  wanting  in  one  essential  quality, 
that  of  practicability.  At  the  time  we  have  arrived  at,  we  can 
not  invent  a  monetary  unit  not  in  relation  with  any  type  actu 
ally  existing.  The  franc  itself  had  been  compelled  not  to  depart 
too  far  from  the  Iwre  tournois,  in  order  to  make  itself  acceptable, 
and  the  gold  crown,  containing  ten  grams,  has  not  been  able  to 
get  into  circulation  in  Germany  because  it  is  not  adapted  to  the 
florin  of  Austria,  nor  the  florin  of  Bavaria,  nor  the  thaler  of 
Prussia.  By  the  very  force  of  things,'  said  he,  '  it  is  the  napo 
leon  [twenty  francs],  a  foreign  coin,  which  represents  beyond 
all  others  the  monetary  circulation  of  gold  in  Germany.' 

"  The  delegate  from  Russia,  M.  DE  JACOBI,  Privy  Councillor  of 
the  Crown,  and  member  of  the  Imperial  Academy  of  Sciences  at 
St  Petersburg,  highly  distinguished  in  Europe  not  only  in 
general  physical  science,  but  especially  by  his  earnest  and  able 
advocacy  of  the  merits  of  the  metrical  system,  said  that  he 
'  adopted  in  full  the  ideas  developed  by  M.  FEER  HERZOG.  He 
would  have  been  glad  that  a  relation  should  exist  between  coins 
and  the  systems  of  weights  and  measures,  but  in  the  double 


136  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

view  of  science  and  practice,  he  saw  no  necessity  for  the  estab 
lishing  of  such  relations  to  the  prejudice  of  other  more  impor 
tant  interests.  He  could  not,  therefore,  regard  as  serious  the 
reproach  cast  upon  the  coin  of  France,  as  having  widened  the 
breach  in  the  French  metric  system.'  He  added  that  'the 
creation  of  an  entirely  new  coinage  was  so  much  the  less  oppor 
tune,  that  he  could  not  let  the  occasion  pass  without  noticing 
the  agreement,  perhaps  accidental  but  almost  complete,  between 
the  intrinsic  value  of  the  principal  French  coins  and  those  of 
Russia.  Thus  the  silver  rouble  coincides  very  nearly  with  four 
francs,  the  difference  not  exceeding  the  limits  of  the  tolerance. 
In  the  same  way  the  demi-imperial  has  a  value  only  fifteen  ko 
pecks  '  (about  eleven  cents,)  '  higher  than  the  twenty  franc  gold 
piece. 

"M.  MEINECKE,  the  delegate  from  Prussia,  thought  it  of  prime 
necessity  to  adopt  as  the  base  of  the  new  system,  a  system 
already  recognized  and  reduced  to  practice.  '  The  difficulty,' 
said  he,  c  of  adopting  the  gold  standard,  is  much  greater  in 
Prussia  than  for  any  other  country;  but  if  the  labors  of  the  con 
ference  should  aim  at  establishing  the  basis  for  a  general  mone 
tary  arrangement,  Prussia  would  study  with  care  the  best  mode 
of  connecting  herself  with  it.' 

"  On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  STAS,  one  of  the  two  delegates  from 
Belgium,  said  that  he  'would  prefer  the  establishment  of  an 
entirely  new  monetary  system,  and  that  the  conference  assume 
as  its  mission,  to  settle  principles  and  not  expedients  in  practice. 
To  follow  the  latter  course  would  be  to  leave  traces  in  the  snow, 
not  to  engrave  footprints  in  rock.'  He  also  maintained  that 
'  the  creation  of  a  system  based  on  a  standard  of  gold  of  five  or 
ten  grams  would  offer  the  immense  advantage  of  having  it  more 
readily  accepted  by  all  nations,  as  it  would  avoid  all  national 
susceptibility.  Doubtless  the  adoption  of  the  new  unit  would 
require  the  general  reminting  of  all  coinage,  but  this  recoinage 
would  bring  with  it  a  definitive  system  sanctioned  by  science.' 


UNIFICATION    OF    MONEYS.  137 

He  further  asserted  that,  '  mathematically  speaking,  the  kilo 
gram  cannot  be  divided  into  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  equal 
portions.' 

"  Mr.  FEEE  HERZOG,  replying  to  the  remarks  of  Mr.  STAS,  said  : 
'  there  is  nothing  to  hinder  the  definition  of  this  napoleon  by 
indicating  the  round  number  one  hundred  and  fifty-five,  which 
a  kilogram  includes,  or  rather  it  should  be  divided  by  the  frac 
tional  number  of  grams  which  represent  its  weight,  neglecting 
the  decimals  beyond  the  thousandths  decimals,  which  practically 
are  of  no  importance  and  have  only  an  interest  purely  scientific. 
It  is  not  indispensable  to  the  goodness  of  coin  that  it  should  be 
metrically  proportioned.' 

"  The  delegate  of  the  U.  S.  [Mr.  KUGGLES]  said  it  would  be  as 
impossible  to  abolish  '  the  expression  of  the  dollar  in  the 
"United  States,  as  that  of  the  sovereign  in  England,  but  that 
both  might  be  retained  in  reducing  their  intrinsic  values.' 
He  said  that  'two  milliards  ($2,000,000,000)  in  gold  had  been 
thrown  into  the  money  market  since  the  discovery  of  the  mines 
of  Australia  and  California,  and  that  it  was  certainly  possible 
that  the  coinage  of  gold  in  the  United  States,  in  the  next  fifteen 
years  may  reach  five  milliards  of  francs  ($1,000,000,000).  In 
view  of  such  a  future,  the  American  government  would  prefer 
to  reduce  its  monetary  unit  at  once.'*  But  the  United  States  in 
consenting  to  recoin  its  gold  now  in  circulation,  would  expect 
France  on  her  side,  will  consent  to  coin  pieces  of  twenty-five 
francs,  in  which  case  monetary  unification  would  at  once  assume 
a  practical  form.' " 

"  On  closing  the  debate  the  question  was  taken  by  ayes  and 
noes,  on  a  roll-call  of  the  nations,  which  resulted  in  an  unani 
mous  vote  in  favor  of  the  second  alternative  in  the  question,  in 
the  following  words,  to  wit  : 

" '  It  is  more  easy  to  realize  monetary  unification  by  mutual 
coordination  of  existing  systems,  taking  into  account  the  scien 
tific  advantages  of  certain  types,  and  the  numbers  of  the  popu 
lations  which  have  already  adopted  them.'  " 

*  Approval  of  Department  of  State,  in  letter  from  Mr.  SEWARD,  June  21,  1867. 


138  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

Subsequently,  also,  in  a  debate  in  the  French  Senate,  on  the 
expediency  of  immediately  issuing,  in  furtherance  of  the  plans 
of  the  conference,  a  gold  coin  of  the  value  of  twenty-five  francs, 
the  conflict  between  the  perfection  of  theory  and  the  possibilities 
of  practice  was  brought  very  sharply  out.  The  following  is  an 
abridged  outline  of  the  discussion,  as  given  by  Mr.  RUGGLES. 

:'  In  this  interesting  and  instructive  debate,  which  occupies 
fourteen  printed  columns  of  the  Journal  Official,  the  compara 
tive  merits  of  the  twenty-five  franc  coin  and  of  a  new  coin  of 
ten  even  grams  (or  a  decagram),  equivalent  to  thirty-one  exist 
ing  francs,  were  fully  examined.  The  metrical  merits  of  the  pro 
posed  decagram  coin  had  been  urged  on  the  twenty-first  of 
January,  by  Mr.  MICHEL  CHEVALIER,  in  a  general  speech  on  the 
coinage  of  France,  in  which  he  had  claimed  for  the  decagram 
its  perfect  conformity  to  the  'logic  of  the  metrical  system. 

"It  is,  however,  specially  noticeable  that  in  the  latter  portion 
of  his  speech,  Mr.  CHEVALIER,  who  combines  with  his  abstract 
philosophies,  a  large  admixture  of  practical  statesmanship,  after 
stating  these  '  indications  of  logic,'  very  pertinently  proceeds 
to  ask  and  then  to  answer  as  follows  : 

"  '  Is  it  necessary  to  abandon  ourselves  absolutely  and  exclu 
sively  to  logic  ?  It  is  a  question.  Logic  is  a  power  ;  but 
various  conventional  requirements  (convenances  diverges}  may 
cause  us  to  disregard  it  ( peuvent  faire  qu'on  s'en  ecarte). 

"  '  When,  in  order  to  conform  wholly  to  logic,  it  is  necessary 
to  submit  to  considerable  sacrifices,  or  to  change  the  inveterate 
and  cherished  habits  of  peoples  :  and  when  even  the  triumph  of 
logic  is  not  to  be  followed  by  great  advantages,  we  are  allowed 
to  hesitate.  A  wise  administration  may  lay  aside  logic,  and 
adopt  combinations  which  from  other  points  of  view  would  be 
advantageous  to  the  public  interest.' 

"  The  debate  of  the  twenty-fifth  of  January  was  opened  by  Mr. 
LE  VERRIER,  the  astronomer  and  savan  measuring  the  outmost 
limits  of  planetary  space  by  his  skilful  use  of  exact  science.  In 


UNIFICATION    OF    MONEYS.  139 

a  powerful  speech  of  wide  range,  be  supported  the  plan  of  the 
twenty-five  franc  coin,  as  being  practicable,  in  preference  to  that 
of  the  decagram,  as  being  merely  theoretical.  He  was  followed 
by  Mr.  DUMAS,  '  President  of  the  Commission  on  Coins,'  and 
as  such,  Director  of  the  Mint,  who  stated  that  the  recoinage 
required  by  the  decagram,  would  cost  seventy  millions  of  francs, 
or  fourteen  millions  of  dollars.  Mr.  LE  ROY  DE  SAINT- ARNAUD  con 
curred  with  Mr.  LE  VERKIER,  and  held  that  '  the  question  could  be 
resolved  only  in  accordance  with  practical  ideas.  I  admire 
science,'  said  he;  'I  bow  before  the  savans  ;  but  in  questions  of 
this  nature,  in  which  so  many  persons  and  interests  are  inter 
mingled,'  *  *  *  '  I  regret  the  excess  of  science,  and  fasten 
myself  to  the  facts.'  He  was  followed  by  General  Marquis  DE 
LAPLACE,  who  denounced  the  twenty-five  franc  coin  as  unmetrical 
and  unnecessary,  and  urged  among  other  objections,  that  it 
differed  too  little  in  size  from  the  twenty-franc  coin,  and  might 
tend  to  raise  to  twenty-five  francs,  the  price  of  objects  now  sell 
ing  at  twenty. 

"  In  closing  the  debate,  the  necessity  for  the  immediate  issue 
of  the  twenty-five  franc  coin,  and  indeed  the  wrhole  plan  of  the 
Paris  conference,  were  vindicated  with  signal  ability  by  Mr.  DE 
PARIEU,  the  universally  acknowledged  leader  in  Europe  of  the 
pending  measure  of  monetary  unification,  and  now  president  of 
the  council  of  state  in  the  new  liberal  ministry.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  in  accordance  with  the  form  of  proceeding  peculiar  to  the 
body,  the  Senate  'passed  to  the  order  of  the  day,'  thereby 
rejecting  the  proposition  of  the  decagram,  and  virtually 
expressed  their  approbation  of  the  twenty-five  franc  coin  by 
leaving  its  issue  to  the  proper  minister  charged  with  the  coin- 
age." 

Since  1867  some  progress  has  been  made  on  the  continent  of 
Europe  toward  unification  on  the  plan  here  proposed.  The 
following  further  extract  from  the  supplementary  report  of  Mr. 
RUGGLES  shows  to  what  extent  this  is  true : 


140  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

"Up  to  the  present  time  the  recommendation  of  the  confer 
ence  in  respect  to  the  five  franc  gold  unit  (deferring  the  imme 
diate  consideration  of  the  question  of  the  single  standard),  has 
been  adopted  by  nine  of  the  nations  of  Europe,  to  wit :  by 
France,  Belgium,  Switzerland,  Italy,  the  Pontifical  States,  Spain, 
Greece,  Koumania,  and  Sweden,  having  an  aggregate  population 
of  one  hundred  million,  three  hundred  thousand  inhabitants. 

"  The  preliminaries  of  a  monetary  treaty,  providing  for  a  coin 
assimilating  the  ten  florins  of  Austria  with  the  twenty -five  francs 
of  France,  were  signed  by  the  authorized  representatives  of  those 
two  nations  on  the  31st  of  July,  1867.  It  contained  a  condition 
in  respect  to  the  double  standard,  not  yet  complied  with  by 
France,  but  specimen  coins  were  struck  in  anticipation,  in  Octo 
ber,  1867,  bearing  the  heads  respectively  of  the  Emperors  of 
France  and  of  Austria,  with  the  reverse,  inscribed  '  10  florins,  25 
francs.'  The  adoption  by  France  of  the  single  standard,  to 
which  a  school  of  political  economists  in  that  country  still  re 
mains  violently  opposed,  but  which  has  been  repeatedly  and 
earnestly  recommended  in  the  reports  of  official  investigations 
(enquetes)  by  large  commissions  of  imposing  authority,  will  secure 
the  completion  and  execution  of  the  treaty  by  Austria,  and 
thereby  increase  the  number  of  European  nations  using  the  franc 
to  ten,  with  an  aggregate  population  of  one  hundred  and  thirty 
five  million,  four  hundred  thousand  inhabitants. 
#*#**##*  **** 

"The  actual  issue  of  the  gold  franc  international  coin  has 
been  commenced  by  some  of  the  nations  not  included  in  the 
treaty  of  1865.  It  is  already  in  circulation  in  the  flourishing 
principality  of  Eoumania  under  the  government  of  its  present 
enlightened  ruler,  who  has  introduced  in  full  the  metrical 
weights,  measures,  and  coins  of  France.  His  example,  in  all 
probability,  will  soon  be  followed  by  the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  who 
has  manifested  so  strongly  his  wish  to  keep  pace  with  the  civili 
zation  of  Europe. 


UNIFICATION    OF    MONEYS.  141 

"  The  assent  of  Spain  to  the  franc  system  was  given  by  the 
provisional  government,  in  a  formal  decree,  published  at  Madrid 
and  Paris,  soon  after  the  expulsion  of  Queen  Isabella.*  A  speci 
men  of  the  new  half  franc  silver  coin  now  in  possession  of  the  un 
dersigned,  bears  the  well  known  '  pillars '  with  the  ancient  arms 
of  Spain,  encircled  by  the  legend  '  400  piezas  en  kilogramo,"  thus 
distinctly  and  arithmetically  recording  its  assimilation  with  the 
'  franc,'  two  hundred  of  which  are  equiponderant  with  the 
French  '  kilogramme.' 

"  Among  the  northern  European  powers,  the  liberal  and  in 
telligent  government  of  Sweden,  so  distinguished  by  its  success 
ful  public  works  of  intercommunication,  has  already  issued  the 
new  gold  pieces  called  '  Carotins,'  bearing  the  words  '  10  francs,' 
and  now  in  common  circulation  in  the  countries  on  the  Baltic. 
They  are  stamped  with  the  '  image  and  superscription  '  of  the 
Swedish  monarch,  CHARLES  XV.,  lineally  descended  from  BERNA- 
DOTTE  and  EUGENE  BEAUHARNOIS,  and  now  taking  the  lead  in  the 
civic  march  of  monetary  reform  in  the  north  of  Europe.  Under 
his  influence  and  authority,  Norway,  which  has  a  separate  legis- 
tive  body,  will  soon  be  united  with  Sweden  in  the  gold  franc 
system.  His  steady  support  of  the  legislative  efforts  of  Mr.  WAL 
LENBERG,  president  of  the  Bank  of  Stockholm  and  one  of  the  two 
delegates  of  Sweden  and  Norway  in  the  Paris  conference,  has 
secured  the  coinage  of  a  Swedish  gold  coin  of  twenty-five  francs, 
to  be  issued  as  soon  as  similar  pieces  shall  be  put  into  circula 
tion  by  the  government  of  France." 

These  statements  show  a  remarkable  advance  in  public  opin 
ion  since  the  fifth  meeting  of  the  International  Statistical  Con 
gress,  held  at  Berlin  in  1863,  at  which  time  a  measure  so  radical 
as  the  absolute  unification  of  all  currencies,  seemed  to  the 
majority  of  that  body  altogether  impracticable  ;  so  that  a  com 
mittee  of  the  congress,  while  proposing  to  reduce  the  units  of 
money  "to  a  small  number,"  deliberately  recommended  that  the 
pound  sterling,  the  dollar,  the  florin,  and  the  franc,  should  all 

*  These  assurances  were  renewed  to  Mr.  DE  PARIEU,  on  a  visit  by  him  to  Madrid  in  1871. 


142  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

continue  to  be  retained.  Even  at  that  early  day,  Mr.  KUGGLES, 
who  was  present  as  the  delegate  to  the  Congress  from  the  United 
States,  protested  against  a  conclusion  so  lame  and  impotent ; 
and  advocated  universal  unification  on  the  basis  of  the  gold  unit 
of  the  value  of  five  francs.  He  was  thus  the  originator  of  the 
plan  which,  though  defeated  for  the  moment,  was  accepted  later 
by  the  International  Conference  of  1867  ;  and  which  has  since 
been  favored  by  the  legislation  of  the  continent  to  the  extent 
above  stated. 

A  proposition  of  this  kind  would,  of  course,  not  be  made^ 
unless  the  practical  considerations  in  its  favor  were  felt  to 
outweigh  any  objections,  derived  from  the  beauty  of  cori- 
gruity,  or  the  exactions  of  a  perfect  theory.  The  arguments 
above  cited  therefore  depend  very  much  for  their  cogency  upon 
the  fact,  that  the  gold  coinage  founded  on  the  franc  which  is  now 
actually  in  existence,  constitutes  nearly  three-fifths  of  the 
total  gold  coinage  of  the  world,  and  probably  not  less  than  two- 
thirds  of  that  of  Europe,  including  England.  The  unit  of  five 
francs,  if  adopted,  will  give  at  once  an  international  character 
to  this  immense  mass  of  coin,  amounting  to  more  than  fourteen 
hundred  millions  of  dollars — a  fact  of  which  the  importance  can 
not  be  overestimated.  It  is,  however,  alleged  in  the  report 
of  the  director  of  our  mint,  made  in  1867,  and  also  in  state 
ments  by  Baron  EUGENE  NOTHOMB  in  the  Prussian  Annals,  that 
the  gold  coinage  of  France  is  below  standard  weight  (though 
within  the  limits  of  tolerance)  even  on  its  first  issue  from  the 
mints  ;  and  that  it  has  even  been  designedly  made  so.  The 
officers  of  the  mint  in  Paris  are  said,  however,  to  have  denied 
this  charge,  and  to  have  claimed  that  their  coinage  not  only 
falls  very  little  below  the  standard,  but  often  exceeds  it.  Opin 
ions  must  therefore  be  suspended  ;  but  if  the  statement  be  well 
founded,  it  must  tend  to  diminish  the  weight  of  the  argument 
derived  from  the  magnitude  of  this  coinage.  To  the  people  of 
Great  Britain  and  of  the  United  States,  whose  coins,  if  this  unit 
were  adopted,  would  require  to  be  recoined,  the  latter  being 


UNIFICATION    OF    MONEYS.  143 

more  than  three  and  a  half  per  cent,  in  excess  of  weight,  the  plan 
will  only  become  acceptable,  when  it  shall  have  been  clearly 
demonstrated  to  them  that  no  other  possibility  exists  of  recon 
ciling  the  monetary  systems  of  the  world. 

The  second  of  the  expedients  enumerated  above  as  proposed 
for  securing  an  international  currency,  viz.,  that  of  adopting  the 
unit  of  weight,  or  one  of  its  decimal  derivatives,  as  the  visible 
representative  in  gold  of  the  unit  of  money,  was  suggested  by 
Mr.  MICHEL  CHEVALIER,  in  the  first  instance,  in  the  Journal  de* 
Economises,  for  November,  1868,  and  afterwards  advocated  by 
him  in  the  French  Senate,  as  appears  in  the  debate  above 
cited.  He  proposed  to  take  as  a  unit  the  gramme  of  stand 
ard  gold,  nine  tenths  fine,  of  which  the  value  in  our  cur 
rency  would  differ  but  by  an  inappreciable  fraction  from  sixty 
cents;  or  the  dekagramme,  which  would  be  equivalent,  with  a 
correspondingly  slight  difference,  to  six  dollars.  Calling  the  coin 
of  one  gramme  weight  the  soldo,  the  dollar  would  become,  by  an 
insignificant  modification,  one  soldo  and  two  thirds  of  a  soldo  ; 
or  six  dollars  would  be  equal  to  ten  soldos.  Our  gold  coins 
might  therefore  continue  to  serve  as  money  without  inconve 
nience,  until  such  time  as,  having  been  worn  out,  they  should  be 
replaced  by  other  coins  in  the  form  of  soldos  and  multiples  of 
the  soldo.  The  napoleon,  increased  in  weight  by  less  than 
three  fourths  of  one  per  cent.,  would  be  equal  to  six  and  a  half 
soldos.  The  pound  sterling,  diminished  in  weight  by  one  and 
two  thirds  per  cent,  would  have  the  value  of  eight  soldos.  Thus 
the  coinage  of  the  three  principal  commercial  nations  of  the 
world  could  still  be  made  to  subserve  the  purposes  of  money, 
till  such  time  as  a  new  coinage  should  be  created  to  take  its 
place.  But  these  three  nations,  and  all  others  adopting  the 
system,  would  be  obliged  at  once  to  change  their  unit  of  account, 
and  with  it  their  whole  monetary  system. 

This  scheme  certainly  has  its  advantages.  It  is  strongly  advo 
cated  by  Dr.  FARE,  the  able  delegate  from  Great  Britain  to  the 


METRIC    SYSTEM  -  APPENDIX. 


International  Statistical  Congress  held  at  the  Hague  in  1869  ; 
though  with  a  preference  for  the  dekagramme,  of  the  value  of 
six  dollars,  or  of  one  and  a  quarter  (modified)  sovereigns,  as  a 
unit,  which  he  would  name  the  Victoria.  Five  sovereigns  on 
this  plan  would  be  equal  to  four  Victorias. 

The  third  of  the  methods  suggested  as  offering  a  practicable 
solution  of  the  problem  under  consideration,  is  exemplified  in  a 
proposition  made  in  1868  by  Mr.  GEORGE  F.  DUNNING,  Superin 
tendent  at  that  time  of  the  United  States  Assay  Office  in  New 
York.  This  is  to  assume  a  unit  having  a  weight  of  one  gramme 
and  sixty-two  one-hundredths  of  a  gramme  of  gold,  nine-tenths 
fine  ;  which  corresponds,  with  a  fractional  difference  entirely  in 
appreciable,  to  twenty-five  grains  Troy.  As  a  dollar  weighs 
twenty-five  grains  and  eight-tenths,  this  unit  is  but  about  three 
and  one-tenth  per  cent,  less,  and  it  is  proposed  to  call  it  still  a 
dollar.  The  piece  of  five  francs  increased  by  forty-four  one- 
hundredths  of  one  per  cent,  becomes  then  equal  to  a  dollar,  and 
the  sovereign  diminished  in  the  same  proportion  becomes  the 
equivalent  of  the  half  eagle.  This  scheme  has  simple  relations 
to  the  grain  weight;  but  this  recommendation  is  likely  to  lose 
its  force  with  the  prospective  probable  abandonment  of  the  use 
of  that  weight  altogether.  The  change  which  it  proposes  in  the 
weight  of  the  French  coin,  though  not  large,  is  in  a  direction 
unfavorable  to  the  preservation  of  that  coin  long  in  use,  if,  as 
affirmed,  the  coinage  is  already  too  light  ;  and  it  diminishes  ma 
terially  the  value  of  our  dollar  without  any  corresponding  advan 
tage,  which  would  not  be  gained  by  making  it  equal  at  once  to 
the  piece  of  five  francs. 

Another  proposition  founded  upon  the  same  principle,  but 
recommended  by  a  simpler  relation  to  the  metric  system  of 
weights,  and  a  close  approach  in  the  unit  proposed  to  the  value 
of  the  American  dollar,  was  presented  in  a  petition  to  Congress 
from  the  American  Statistical  Association  in  1867,  and  was  laid 
before  the  American  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science 


UNIFICATION    OF    MONEYS.  145 

at  its  meeting  of  1868  in  Chicago,  by  Mr.  E.  B.  ELLIOTT,  of  the 
United  States  Treasury,  with  whom  it  originated.  This  consists 
in  making  the  dollar  of  such  weight  of  standard  gold  as  to  con 
tain  one  gramme  and  a  half  of  the  pure  metal.  The  proposed 
alloy  being  one  part  in  ten,  it  follows  that  the  total  weight  of  the 
dollar  will  be  one  gramme  and  two  thirds;  or  employing  the 
word  tergramme  to  signify  one  third  of  a  gramme,  the  weight  of 
the  dollar  will  be  five  tergrammes. 

The  division  by  three  is  justified,  and  even  recommended,  by 
the  consideration  that  the  presence  of  an  alloy  in  the  metal  of 
coinage  precludes  the  possibility  of  a  strict  adherence  to  the 
decimal  scale.  As  it  is  probable  that  the  fineness  of  nine-tenths 
will  ultimately  be  universally  preferred  to  any  other,  it  will  fol 
low  that  ten  parts  of  the  alloyed  metal  will  contain  nine  of  the 
pure  metal  ;  which  latter  is  only  accounted  to  have  value.  And 
the  simple  divisor  of  nine  is  three. 

This  unit  is  less  in  value  than  the  American  dollar  by  a  little 
more  than  three-tenths  of  one  per  cent. ;  a  difference  which  is 
below  the  limit  fixed  by  law  for  the  tolerance  of  variations  in 
weight,  in  the  half  eagle  and  inferior  coins ;  so  that  the  existing 
coinage  of  the  United  States  would  not  be  displaced  by  it.  Its 
adoption  in  England  would  require  an  increase  of  weight  of  two 
and  forty-three  one-hundredths  per  cent,  in  the  sovereign  ;  and 
its  introduction  into  France  would  necessitate  a  change  in  the 
napoleon  in  the  same  direction,  to  the  extent  of  three  and  thirty- 
three  one-hundredths  per  cent.  Affecting,  therefore,  so  seriously 
a  very  large  proportion  of  the  gold  coinage  of  the  world,  this 
unit  is  likely  to  make  its  way  but  slowly,  if  at  all.  It  is,  never 
theless  a  more  convenient  unit  of  account  than  the  pound  ster 
ling  or  the  franc  ;  it  is  simply  related  to  the  metric  system  of 
weights,  which  bids  fair  to  become  in  due  time  universal  ;  it  is 
very  nearly  the  equivalent  of  the  Spanish  dollar,  so  extensively 
employed  in  the  commerce  of  the  far  east  ;  it  is  an  exact  sub- 
multiple  of  the  triple  crown  of  the  German  Muntzverein;*and  it 

*  This  coin  has  practically  disappeared  from  circulation. 


146  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

is  not  so  largely  discordant  with  the  coinage  systems  of  England 
and  France  even,  as  to  exclude  the  coins  of  those  countries  from 
circulation  ;  though,  till  replaced  by  others,  such  coins  might 
circulate  at  a  discount. 

In  the  notice  which  has  here  been  taken  of  the  several  plans, 
which  up  to  this  time  have  been  seriously  advocated,  for  the 
unification  of  the  monetary  systems  of  the  world,  it  has  not  been 
intended  to  indicate  a  preference  for  one  of  these  rather  than  for 
another  ;  nor  even  to  assume  that  the  possibilities  in  the  case 
have  been  exhausted,  or  that  a  better  plan  than  any  one  of  them 
may  not  yet  be  proposed.  The  object  in  view  has  been  simply 
to  point  out  the  peculiar  difficulties  which  surround  the  subject, 
find  to  illustrate  their  magnitude  ;  so  that  the  propriety  of  deal 
ing  separately  with  the  question  of  weights  and  measures  may 
not  seem  doubtful. 

To  the  plan  of  unification  which  rests  on  the  French  gold 
piece  of  five  francs  as  its  basis,  the  nations  parties  to  the  mone 
tary  treaty  of  December  23,  1865,  including  France,  Belgium, 
Switzerland,  and  Italy  are  already  prepared  to  assent.  These 
nations  have,  in  fact,  only  to  abolish  the  double  standard,  and 
they  have  the  system  already  The  treaty  referred  to  establishes 
for  the  parties  to  it  a  common  system  of  coinage,  to  be  main 
tained  until  January  1,  1880,  if  not  sooner  repealed.  Spain, 
Sweden,  Austria  and  Greece  have  exhibited  a  willingness  to  ac 
cept  the  same  system  ;  and  Roumania  has  put  it  into  practice. 

The  system  of  which  the  basis  is  the  five  tergramme  coin  of 
gold,  of  the  fineness  of  nine-tenths,  exists,  as  we  have  seen,  prac 
tically,  in  the  United  States,  at  the  present  time.  An  important 
and  rather  unexpected  encouragement  has  been  afforded  to  the 
advocates  of  this  scheme,  during  the  current  year,  by  the  action 
of  the  government  of  the  Japanese  Empire.  Sometime  during 
the  year  1870,  the  Master  of  the  Mint  of  that  Empire  was  de 
puted  as  a  commissioner  to  visit  Europe  and  the  United  States, 
with  instructions  to  inquire  into  the  systems  of  currency  and 


UNIFICATION    OF    MONEYS.  147 

coinage  prevailing  among  different  peoples,  in  the  design  to  effect 
a  complete  remodelling  of  the  coinage  of  Japan.  Commissioner 
ITO,  after  having  fully  informed  himself  of  the  diversity  of  views 
entertained  by  the  prominent  authorities  on  the  subject  in  the 
countries  visited  by  him,  returned  at  length  prepared  to  recom 
mend,  first,  an  entire  departure  from  the  traditions  of  the  East 
as  to  a  standard  metal,  by  discarding  the  silver  standard,  and 
adopting  the  standard  of  gold  only;  and  secondly,  the  adoption, 
as  the  unit  basis  of  the  new  system,  of  a  gold  coin  of  the  weight 
of  one  gramme  and  two-thirds,  of  the  fineness  of  nine  tenths. 
The  views  of  the  Commissioner  were  approved ;  and  a  decree  of 
the  empire,  which  was  promptly  issued  in  conformity  with  them, 
provides  for  the  stamping  of  gold  coins  of  the  several  values,  one 
yen,  two  yens,  five  yens,  ten  yens,  and  twenty  yens — the  yen  being 
the  name  given  to  the  unit-base  or  gold  dollar.  This  coinage  is 
made  the  only  legal  tender  in  the  empire  ;  except  for  small  pay 
ments,  which  may  be  made  in  fractional  coins  of  a  subsidiary 
silver  currency  ;  and  except  also  for  transactions  in  the  open 
ports,  for  which  a  silver  one-yen,  the  equivalent  of  the  Spanish 
dollar,  continues  to  be  coined,  and  is  made  legal  tender  for  all 
sums. 

This  remarkable  action,  which  illustrates  in  a  striking  manner 
the  energy,  the  independence,  and  the  freedom  from  prejudice, 
with  which  the  sagacious  rulers  of  the  Japanese  islands  are  seek 
ing  to  improve  the  social,  political,  and  material  condition  of 
their  people,  is  possibly  destined  to  have  a  larger  influence  on  the 
ultimate  settlement  of  the  question  of  an  international  coinage 
than  immediately  appears.  Should  the  example  of  Japan  be 
followed  by  the  neighboring  and  more  populous  empire  of  China, 
the  demand  of  Oriental  commerce  may  hereafter  be  for  gold  dol 
lars  instead  of  for  silver;  and  this  demand  may  decide  the  ques 
tion  what  precise  weight  can  be  most  advantageously  given  to  the 
gold  coins  of  Europe  and  of  America. 

The  latest  incident  of  importance  which  has  occurred  in  the 


1-18  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

political  world,  affecting  the  question  of  monetary  unification,  is 
one  which  rather  increases  than  diminishes  the  difficulties  sur 
rounding  this  question;  and  one  which  we  are  therefore  com 
pelled  to  regard  as  a  serious  misfortune.  During  the  closing 
months  of  the  year  1871,  Germany  has  permitted  to  pass  unim 
proved,  or  rather  has  put  to  a  very  bad  use,  an  opportunity  such 
as  can  rarely  be  presented  to  a  people  for  securing  a  great  pub 
lic  benefit — an  opportunity  which  she  might  have  improved  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  settle  decisively,  at  least  for  the  continent 
of  Europe,  the  question  of  an  international  coinage.  While 
these  lines  are  in  writing,  intelligence  is  received  of  the  adoption 
of  a  monetary  gold  unit  for  the  empire,  upon  a  new  basis  called 
the  mark,  supposed  to  be  equivalent  in  present  value  to  one 
third  of  a  Prussian  silver  thaler.  The  principal  coin  of  this 
system  is  to  contain  twenty  marks  of  gold,  nine-tenths  fine,  and 
to  have  the  weight  of  seven  thousand,  nine  hundred  and  sixty- 
five  milligrammes  : — with,  the  value,  in  the  currency  of  the 
United  States,  of  4.76426  dollars.*  This  coin  not  being  com 
mensurable  in  weight  or  in  value  with  either  the  franc,  the  dol 
lar,  or  the  sovereign,  serves  only  to  embarrass  still  further  a 
problem  already  sufficiently  difficult  ;  and  its  introduction  must 
have  the  effect  to  postpone  indefinitely,  for  central  Europe  at 
least,  the  enjoyment  of  the  great  blessing  of  an  uniform  interna 
tional  currency,  of  which  the  prospect  seemed  recently  so 
promising. 

The  heavy  discouragement  which  this  untoward  action  has 
brought  with  it  to  the  cause  of  uniformity  is,  however,  measur 
ably  relieved  by  some  attendant  and  partially  compensating 
advantages.  If  Germany  has  failed  to  grasp  the  favorable  occa 
sion  for  reconciling  the  conflicting  monetary  systems  of  Europe, 


*  The  law  provides  for  the  minting  of  two  gold  coins  ;  a  piece  of  ten  marks,  and  a  piece  of 
twenty  marks.  One  hundred  and  thirty-nine  and  a  half  ten-mark  pieces,  or  sixty-nine  and 
tlirec -quarters  twenty-mark  pieces  are  to  be  made  from  one  German  pound  (five  hundred 
grammes)  of  fine  gold.  A  mark  has  the  value  of  23.8213  cents  of  the  currency  of  the  United 
States. 


UNIFICATION    OF    MONEYS.  149 

she  has  nevertheless  brought  order  out  of  the  confusion  of  her 
own.  Henceforth,  in  reference  to  this  matter,  she  contributes 
but  a  single  element  instead  of  many  to  the  general  discord  ; 
and  permits  us  to  say  that  the  number  of  the  inharmonious  ele 
ments  which,  in  studying  the  question  of  unification,  we  are 
compelled  to  consider,  is  practically  reduced  to  these  four — the 
mark,  the  franc,  the  pound  sterling  and  the  dollar.  The  rela 
tions  which  these  bear  to  each  other,  as  presented  in  the  weights 
and  values  of  their  characteristic  gold  coins  most  nearly  approxi 
mate,  are  given  here — the  weights  being  expressed  in  grammes 
and  milligrammes,  and  the  values  in  the  currency  of  the  United 
States  : 

S.  StaSSfU  ValUe' 

Germany,  20-inark  piece 7.168  7.965  $4.76.4 

France,  25-franc  piece  (proposed)   7.258  8.065  4.82.4 

Great  Britain,  Sovereign 7.322  8.136*  4.86.5 

United  States,  Half  Eagle 7.523  8.359  5.00.0 

In  this  exhibit  we  have  the  whole  case  immediately  under  the 
eye.  Till  Germany  intervened,  the  widest  range  of  difference 
between  the  representative  coins  of  the  systems  which  it  seemed 
most  important  to  reconcile,  was  less  than  eighteen  cents.  She 
has  extended  it  to  nearly  twenty-four.  If  the  hope  of  an  early 
and  general  unification  seemed  doubtful  before,  it  must  now  be 
pronounced  little  better  than  desperate. 

Yet  it  by  no  means  becomes  the  friends  of  monetary  reform 
on  this  account  to  fold  their  arms  in  discouragement.  The 
very  hopelessness  of  the  case  in  the  aspect  here  presented, 
imposes  upon  the  four  great  powers  above  named,  the  moral 
obligation  to  lend  their  most  serious  attention  to  every  alter 
native  possibility  of  relief  which  may  be  suggested  ;  and,  in 
the  actual  state  of  things  it  is  eminently  well  worth  their 
consideration,  whether  present  effort  should  not  be  directed 

*  Reduced  to  fineness  of  nine-tenths;  present  weight,  eleven-twelfths  fine,  7.988  grammes. 


150  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

toward  the  creation  of  a  coinage  for  international  use  upon 
a  plan  entirely  independent  of  all  local  and  purely  national 
systems.  Such  an  international  coinage,  though  not  in  strictly 
commensurable  relations  with  the  coins  now  actually  in  use, 
would  be  productive  of  the  great  benefit  of  immensely  sim 
plifying  commercial  exchanges,  and  of  providing  travellers 
with  a  currency  everywhere  invariable  in  value.  The  advan 
tages  which  its  introduction  would  bring  with  it,  are  to  some 
extent  even  now  actually  enjoyed  throughout  a  large  part  of 
Europe,  in  consequence  of  the  extended  circulation  which  the 
gold  napoleon  has  secured  beyond  the  limits  of  the  French  ter 
ritory.  This  coin  is  in  fact  international  with  the  nations  par 
ties  to  the  monetary  treaty  of  December,  1865;  and  it  is  to  this 
fact,  no  doubt,  that  it  owes  much  of  its  popularity  elsewhere. 
But  though  it  circulates  freely  all  over  Germany,  Austria,  Hol 
land,  Denmark,  and  Sweden,  it  circulates  only  by  toleration,  and 
because  of  its  great  convenience  ;  and  is  not  a  legal  tender  for 
payments  of  any  amount,  in  any  of  those  countries. 

The  international  coinage  here  suggested  will  command,  if 
established,  an  immediate  circulation  among  all  the  peoples  who 
shall  unite  in  its  creation  ;  and  will  bring  with  it  greater  advan 
tages  than  have  attended  the  continental  circulation  of  the  na 
poleon.  The  existence  of  such  a  coinage  will  moreover  keep 
constantly  before  the  minds  of  ail  those  who  use  it,  the  desira 
bility  of  a  currency  which  shall  be  not  only  international  but 
everywhere  uniform  and  identical.  Thus  the  proposed  coinage 
may  become  a  powerful  instrumentality  in  promoting  the  attain 
ment  of  the  object  for  which  it  seems  at  first  to  be  only  designed 
as  a  substitute — the  ultimate  complete  unification  of  the  mone 
tary  systems  of  the  world. 

An  international  coinage  devised  without  reference  to  systems 
actually  existing,  and  controlled  in  its  principles  by  no  consider 
ations  of  what  may  be  their  discordances  or  resemblances,  may 
be  moreover  constructed  on  a  strictly  scientific  plan;  and  thus, 


UNIFICATION    OF    MONEYS.  151 

when  time  shall  have  familiarized  the  nations  with  its  values 
and  its  visible  forms,  it  may  happen  that,  without  violence, 
and  by  the  spontaneous  action  of  peoples  themselves,  diver 
sity  may  silently  give  place  to  uniformity,  and  a  better  sys 
tem  than  any  which  present  legislation  could  create,  may 
ultimately  prevail  throughout  the  world. 


NOTES   SUPPLEMENTARY. 

1. — Effect  upon  existing  Contracts  of  a  Change  in  the  Legal  Weight  of  Coins. 

Since  committing  the  foregoing  pages  to  the  press,  it  is  felt  that  sufficient  prominence  has 
not  been  given  to  the  thought,  cursorily  suggested  on  page  one  hundred  and  thirty-one,  that 
every  change,  small  or  great,  introduced  into  the  weight  of  legal  tender  coins,  while  the  same 
coins  continue  to  be  unchanged  in  nominal  value,  imposes  upon  the  government  making  it,  the 
most  stringent  obligation,  in  honor  and  in  morals,  to  provide  for  the  full  and  exact  fulfilment' 
of  all  outstanding  pecuniary  engagements  in  the  sense  in  which  they  were  understood  at  the 
time  they  were  contracted.  From  this  obligation  there  is  no  possibility  of  escape.  The  public 
opinion  of  the  world,  to  which  in  this  age  even  monarchs  must  defer,  will  not  suffer  that,  in 
the  light  of  the  nineteenth  century,  governments  shall  presume,  on  any  pretext  whatever,  to 
imitate  practices  such  as  those  to  which  unscrupulous  despots  were  accustomed  to  resort 
in  ruder  times,  that  they  might  wring  from  the  hand  of  honest  industry  its  hard  earned 
wages.  There  is  one  thing  that  is  more  valuable  than  national  wealth  or  national  power, 
and  that  is  national  honor  ;  and  it  would  be  better  to  endure,  to  the  end  of  time,  all  the  evils 
and  disadvantages  with  which  the  diversity  and  incongruity  of  existing  monetary  systems 
embarrass  intercourse  and  encumber  commerce,  or  even  to  go  back  to  the  rude  iron  currency 
of  the  Spartans,  than  to  possess  ourselves  of  the  most  perfect  system  that  science  can  devise, 
through  the  operation  of  a  legalized  injustice.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  it  was  the 
gravity  of  these  considerations  which  determined  the  government  of  the  United  States  to 
make  to  the  governments  of  Europe  the  proposition  mentioned  on  the  page  above  re 
ferred  to  ;  the  effect  of  which  would  be,  in  case  of  its  acceptance  by  those  governments, 
to  acquire  to  some  extent  for  existing  coinages  the  character  of  an  international  coin 
age,  by  making  the  values  of  their  principal  coins  commensurable. 

This  plan,  if  adopted,  owing  to  the  minuteness  of  the  changes  which  it  demands,  would 
simplify  the  legislation  required  for  the  introduction  of  an  international  coinage,  and  would 
secure  the  people,  whom  such  legislation  affects,  against  the  inconvenience  arising  from  the 
necessity  of  discharging  their  pecuniary  liabilities  in  a  currency  differing  from  that  which 
existed  at  the  time  when  those  liabilities  were  incurred. 


152  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 


2.  —  Tlie  JYeio  System  of  Coinage  of  the  Japanese  Empire. 

In  addition  to  the  statements  made  on  page  147,  the  following  particulars  may  interest 
The  fineness  of  the  subsidiary  silver  coinage  is  eight-tenths  ;  and  the  ratio  in  value  of 
the  silver  in  this  to  gold  is  1:13%.  This  coinage  is  legal  tender  to  the  amount  of  ten  yen 
(dollars).  In  the  silver  one-yen  coin  for  the  open  ports,  the  fineness  is  nine-tenths  ;  and 
the  ratio  1:16.173.  (The  gold  one-yen  contains  1.5  grammes  of  pure  gold,  and  the  silver 
one-yen,  24.260726  grammes  of  pure  silver.) 

The  gold  coins  are  as  follows  :  one  yen,  two  yen,  five  yen,  ten  yen,  and  twenty  yen. 
These  are  all  legal  tender  for  all  payments,  to  any  amount. 

The  rules  relating  to  the  silver  one-yen  are  peculiar,  and  are  as  follows  : 

"For  the  sake  of  rendering  facility  to  foreign  commerce  at  those  ports  open  to  foreigners, 
and  in  accordance  with  the  requirements  of  the  traders,  both  foreign  and  Japanese,  our 
government  will  coin  the  silver  one-yen  and  make  it  useful  only  for  foreign  commerce. 
This  silver  one -yen  will  be  the  legal  tender  in  payment  of  local  taxes  and  of  import  and 
export  duties.  It  will  also  be  the  legal  tender  in  any  commercial  transaction  in  the  open 
ports.  The  said  silver  one-yen  will,  however,  not  be  the  legal  tender  in  any  other  place  than 
the  said  open  ports,  and  shall  not  be  used  for  the  payment  of  internal  revenue  of  any 
kind,  nor  will  it  be  lawful  currency  in  the  interior  :  but  by  mutual  agreement  any  person 
or  persons  may  use  it  to  any  amount  throughout  Japan. 

"In  the  payment  of  the  import  and  export  duties,  the  comparative  rate  of  the  gold 
yen  to  the  silver  one-yen  will  be  as  follows  :  thus,  one  hundred  silver  one-yen  shall  for 
the  present  be  equivalent  to  one  hundred  and  one  gold  yen." 

The  world  will  wait  with  interest  for  the  result  of  this  curious  experiment.  It  need 
hardly  have  been  provided  that  the  silver  one-yen  shall  not  be  legal  tender  in  the  inte 
rior.  The  probabilities  are  that  it  will  never  be  seen  there  ;  and  it  is  furthermore  proba 
ble  that,  so  long  as  the  legal  relation  between  the  silver  one-yen  and  the  gold  yen 
ramains  as  provided  in  the  last  paragraph  foregoing,  all  the  silver  one-yen  coins  that 
can  be  produced  will  be  promptly  bought  up  and  exported  as  fast  as  they  are  issued  from 
the  mint 


APPENDIX  B. 


NOTE  1.— ON  MEASURES  OF  CAPACITY,  AND  THE 
WEIGHT  OF  A  GIVEN  VOLUME  OF  WATER 

(REFERRED   TO   ON  PAGE  39.) 

A  measure  of  capacity  is,  theoretically,  a  certain  defined 
volume  expressible  in  cubic  units,  integral  or  fractional,  derived 
from  some  invariable  linear  measure.  In  theory,  therefore,  the 
measure  of  capacity  is  the  same  under  all  conditions.  But,  in 
practice,  the  capacity  measure,  being  a  vessel  of  metal,  wood,  or 
other  material  subject  to  expansion  and  contraction  with  varia 
tions  of  temperature,  can  correspond  strictly  with  the  theoretic 
measure  only  at  some  particular  temperature. 

In  the  United  States  the  standard  temperature  is  that  at  which 
the  density  of  pare  water  is  maximum.  This  is  stated  by  Mr.  F. 
K.  HASSLER,  by  whom,  as  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Weights 
and  Measures,  the  experimental  investigations  were  conducted 
which  resulted  in  fixing  the  methods  of  adjusting  the  mea 
sures  of  capacity,  in  a  report  made  by  him,  Jan.  27,  1832,  as 
being  true  at  39°. 83  *  of  the  thermometer  of  Fahrenheit.  The 
capacity  of  the  bushel  was,  at  the  same  time,  fixed  at  2150.42 
cubic  inches,  which  is  the  capacity  of  the  old  Winchester  bushel 
of  England  ;  and  that  of  the  gallon,  at  231  cubic  inches,  corre 
sponding  to  the  British  wine  gallon.  But,  inasmuch  as  the 
British  standard  temperature  is  62°  F.,  the  Winchester  bushel 


*  In  his  report  of  1842,  ten  years  later,  Mr.  HASSLKR  tacitly  admits  that  this  temperature  is 
too  high,  by  speaking  of  39°  F.,  as  the  temperature  of  maximum  density.  PLAYFAIR  and  JOULK 
make  it  3°.  945  C.  =  39°.  101  F. 


154  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

of  England  and  the  Winchester  bushel  of  the  United  States  are 
equal  to  each  other  neither  at  39°.83  F.,  nor  at  62°  F.,  nor 
at  any  other  common  temperature.  In  point  of  fact,  the 
British  Winchester  bushel,  when  made  of  brass,  contains,  ac 
cording  to  Mr.  HASSLER,  only  2148.9  cubic  inches  at  the  tempera 
ture  adopted  as  standard  in  the  United  States  ;  falling  short  of 
ours  by  one  cubic  inch  and  fifty-two  one  hundredths  ;  while  ours 
exceeds  the  British  by  the  same  amount,  at  the  temperature 
according  to  which  the  standards  of  Great  Britain  are  ad 
justed. 

To  construct  a  measure  of  any  description,  whether  of  length, 
or  of  capacity,  or  of  weight,  in  exact  conformity  with  a  standard 
previously  imposed,  is  a  practical  problem  of  extreme  delicacy 
and  difficulty.  The  verification  of  capacity  measures  is  more 
over  attended  with  the  special  disadvantage,  that  the  interiors 
of  vessels  cannot  be  subjected  to  microscopic  measurement, 
with  the  same  facility  as  the  external  contours  of  solids.  Capaci 
ty  measures  designed  to  serve  as  standards  are  therefore 
verified  by  an  indirect  process,  which  consists  in  determining, 
by  means  of  the  balance,  what  quantity  of  pure  \vater  of  known 
temperature  they  are  capable  of  containing.*  But  in  order  that 
this  method  may  be  worthy  of  reliance,  it  is  necessary  first  that 
the  absolute  weight  of  a  given  volume  of  water  should  be  ascer 
tained  with  the  utmost  exactness  ;  and  this  not  only  at  a  given 
temperature,  but  at  every  temperature  within  a  pretty  wide 
range  ;  since  the  rate  of  expansion  of  water  with  increasing 
temperature  from  the  point  of  its  maximum  density,  is  governed 
by  no  obvious  law.  To  the  determination,  therefore,  of  the 


*  During  the  process  of  weighing,  the  measure  is  closed  by  means  of  a  plate  of  truly  plane  ground 
glass,  the  top  or  rim  being  correspondingly  ground.  It  would  not,  of  course,  be  possible,  by  any 
exercise  of  dexterity,  to  fill  an  open  vessel  exactly  full  of  liquid,  and  no  more  ;  nor,  supposing 
that  condition  reached,  could  it  be  verified  by  simple  observation.  Should  any  air  bubbles  be 
inclosed  within  the  covering,  they  are  brought  by  management  to  the  centre  of  the  plate,  where 
there  is  a  small  perforation,  through  which  the  deficiency  of  fluid  may  be  supplied.  The  filling 
having  been  perfectly  accomplished,  the  exterior  of  the  vessel  and  cover  are  then  carefully  dried 
belore  weighing. 


MEASURES    OF    CAPACITY.  155 

weight  of  a  cubic  inch,  or  of  some  other  determinate  volume,  of 
water,  there  has  been  devoted  a  vast  amount  of  laborious  ex 
perimental  inquiry  ;  with  results  which  differ  only  by  a  few  one- 
thousandths  of  a  grain  per  cubic  inch,  and  which  are  at  length 
probably  as  near  to  accuracy  as  it  is  possible  for  human  skill  to 
attain. 

In  the  prosecution  of  this  inquiry  the  method  pursued  has  not 
been  to  prepare  first  a  vessel  of  measured  capacity,  and  then  to 
ascertain  by  the  balance  what  weight  of  water  in  ounces  or 
grains  it  will  hold.  The  difficulties  already  mentioned  in  the 
way  of  constructing  capacity  measures  by  actual  direct  measure 
ment,  prevent  this,  But  the  plan  has  been  to  prepare  a  solid  of 
regular  geometrical  figure,  and  of  specific  gravity  superior  to 
water  ;  and  then  to  find  experimentally  the  apparent  loss  of 
weight  which  this  body  undergoes,  when  immersed  in  water. 
The  dimensions  of  such  a  solid  can  be  determined  with  great 
accuracy.  It  displaces  precisely  its  own  bulk  of  the  fluid  ;  and 
the  observed  loss  of  weight  is  therefore  directly  the  thing  sought 
— that  is,  the  weight  of  the  same  bulk  of  water. 

The  weight  of  the  cubic  inch  of  water  at  maximum  density,  as 
accepted  at  the  Bureau  of  Weights  and  Measures  of  the  United 
States,  is  stated  by  Mr.  HASSLER,  in  a  report  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury,  dated  March,  1842,  to  be  252.7453  grains;  and  this 
is  there  said  to  have  been  deduced  from  the  "  English  determina 
tions  ;"  and  to  be  the  value  according  to  which  the  measures 
of  capacity  of  the  United  States  are  adjusted.  It  is  a  little 
curious  to  observe,  however,  that  the  same  authority  gave,  in 
his  report  of  1832 — the  report  in  which  the  regulating  weights 
of  those  measures  of  capacity  were  first  declared  and  prescribed 
— a  materially  different  value  of  the  same  constant.  In  that 
report  he  states  the  capacity  of  the  gallon  to  be  two  hundred 
and  thirty-one  cubic  inches  ;  and  the  weight  of  two  hundred  and 
thirty-one  cubic  inches  of  water  at  maximum  density  to  be 
58,372.1754  grains  ;  from  which  it  appears  that  the  cubic  inch  of 


156  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

water  at  maximum  density  was  supposed  by  him  then  to  weigh 
only  252.G934  grains,  as  given  in  the  text  of  the  foregoing  address. 
This,  however,  is  not  a  British  determination;  but  it  is  Mr. 
HASSLER'S  own,  deduced  from  the  weight  of  an  authentic  kilo 
gramme,  described  by  him  to  be  "an  original  kilogramme  of 
brass,  standarded  by  the  Committee  of  Weights  and  Measures 
in  Paris  [the  committee  on  the  '  definitive  metre']  exactly  equal 
with  all  those  of  the  deputies  of  foreign  nations  present  at  the 
committee  ;  "  combined  also  with  "  an  authentic  metre  of  the 
committee,"  which  he  had  himself  twice  compared.  This  value 
of  the  kilogramme  is  15,433.1669  grains,  exceeding  that  found  by 
Prof.  MILLER,  in  1844  (the  value  given  implicitly  on  page  15),  by 
0.81816  grains.  Mr.  HASSLER'S  determination  of  the  metre  was 
39.3810327  inches,  exceeding  that  received  at  the  British  Stand 
ard's  Office,  as  established  by  KATER  in  1818,  by  the  small  frac 
tion  of  an  inch  represented  by  the  decimal  0.0102427.  If  we 
employ  the  numbers  of  MILLER  and  KATER,  we  shall  find  the 
weight  of  the  cubic  inch  of  water  in  vacuo,  at  maximum  density, 
as  deduced  from  the  kilogramme,  to  be  252.87718  grains.  Sup 
posing  the  weighing  to  take  place  in  air,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
deduct  from  this,  the  weight  of  the  air  which  the  water  displaces, 
diminished  by  the  weight  of  the  air  displaced  by  the  counterpoises. 
In  the  British  computations,  the  specific  gravity  of  the  counter 
poise  weights  is  taken  at  8.5.  The  allowance  for  buoyancy  must, 
according  to  this,  be  taken  at  ~.  ths  of  the  weight  of  a  cubic 
inch  of  air  ;  or  of  a  cubic  inch  of  the  water  weighed,  multiplied 
by  the  specific  gravity  of  the  air  at  the  time  of  the  experiment, 
taken  with  reference  to  water  of  that  density.  According  to  Mr. 
HASSLER,  the  value  of  this  specific  gravity  which  was  employed  by 
the  French  committee  was  TTTJ;  and  if  we  compute  the  correction 
upon  this  specific  gravity,  we  shall  find  it  to  amount  to  0.28978; 
so  that  the  resulting  weight  of  the  cubic  inch  of  water  at  maxi 
mum  density,  weighed  in  air  at  39°. 83  F.  and  at  30  inches  of 
barometric  pressure,  will  be  252.5874. 


MEASURES    OF   CAPACITY.  157 

This  specific  gravity  is,  however,  too  large,  as  is  shown  more 
at  length  in  NOTE  2,  following.  It  should  be  put  at  0.001269582 
—  -^-g-i-g^  ;  and  if  this  value  be  employed,  the  correction  will 
become  0.28345  ;  and  the  weight  of  the  cubic  inch  of  water  in 
the  air  at  normal  pressure,  deduced  from  MILLER'S  weight  of  the 
kilogramme,  will  be  252.59373  grains. 

HASSLER'S  weight  of  the  cubic  inch,  as  derived  from  his  own 
authentic  kilogramme,  must  be  regarded  as  a  weight  in  vacuo  ; 
although  he  treats  it  as  a  weight  in  air,  and  makes  it  the  basis 
of  his  methods  of  adjusting  the  standards  of  capacity  of  the 
United  States  ;  in  which  adjustments  the  weighings  take  place, 
of  course,  in  the  air.  He  has  not  informed  us  whether,  when 
his  brass  kilogramme  was  compared  with  the  platinum  standard, 
allowance  was  made  for  displacement  ;  but  we  should  naturally 
suppose  that  that  was  done,  and  the  agreement  of  the  weight 
with  the  weight  of  the  prototype  of  the  Archives,  as  found  by 
Prof.  MILLER,  within  about  eight-tenths  of  a  grain,  is  in  favor  of 
the  supposition.  Moreover,  the  effect  of  displacement  in  this 
comparison  could  only  be  slight.  According  to  the  determina 
tions  given  in  NOTE  2,  following,  the  weight  of  air  displaced  by 
the  brass  kilogramme  at  the  temperature  of  62°  P.,  and  under 
30  inches  of  pressure,  would  be  only  2.20693  grains,  and  that  of 
the  platinum  kilogramme  0.89328  grains.  The  resultant  effect 
would  therefore  be  1.31365  grains  ;  an  amount  by  which  Mr. 
HASSLER'S  kilogramme  ought  to  be  increased  in  order  to  give  the 
weight  in  vacuo,  if  the  allowance  was  not  originally  made.* 

But  that  the  allowance  was  made  can  hardly  be  doubted;  since 
Mr.  HASSLER  says,  not  that  his  brass  kilogramme  was  compared, 
merely  with  the  platinum  prototype,  but  that  it  was  "  standard- 
ed"  by  it — and  that  this  was  done,  moreover,  by  the  original 
standards-committee  of  1799.  The  weight  of  the  cubic  inch  of 


*  In  determining  the  weight  in  grains  of  the  brass  kilogramme,  after  the  comparison  with  the 
prototype,  no  allowance  for  displacement  was  necessary,  the  counterpoise  weights  being  of  the 
same  metal 


158  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

water  found  from  it,  by  dividing  by  the  number  of  cubic  inches  in 
the  cubic  decimetre,  as  derived  from  his  own  authentic  metre, 
which  weight  is  252.6934,  is  therefore  a  weight  supposed  to  be 
taken  in  vacuo  at  the  maximum  density.  This  weight  will  be 
sensibly  increased,  if  the  cubic  decimetre  as  determined  by  KATER 
(now  generally  received)  be  made  the  divisor  ;  becoming  in  this 
case  252.89065  grains. 

That  Mr.  HASSLEK  should  have  taken  this  weight,  which  is  thus 
seen  to  be  a  weight  in  vacuo,  as  the  basis  of  the  adjustments  of 
the  national  standards  of  capacity  by  weighings  in  the  air,  is  a 
circumstance  too  remarkable  to  be  credited,  except  upon  the 
most  conclusive  evidence.  His  report  of  1832  leaves,  how 
ever,  no  doubt  upon  that  point.  In  that  report,  after  hav 
ing  stated  that  water  at  its  maximum  density  "  is  very 
properly  chosen  to  determine  the  bushel  and  gallon  by  the 
weight  of  distilled  water  which  their  legal  capacity  will  contain," 
he  proceeds  to  add  :  "  Thus  were  determined,  in  weight  of  the 
Mint  in  Philadelphia,  to  contain  distilled  water  at  the  maximum 
density,  and  at  thirty  inches  barometer,  the  bushel  =543,391.89 
grains  =  77.627413  pounds  avoirdupois;  the  gallon  =58,372.- 
1754  grains  =  8.33888220  pounds." 

If  we  now  divide  58,372.1754  by  231,  the  "legal  capacity"  of 
the  gallon  in  cubic  inches,  the  quotient  is  exactly  252.6934, 
without  remainder.  If  we  divide  543,391.89  by  2150.42,  the 
capacity  of  the  bushel,  the  harmony  of  the  two  statements  is 
not  at  first  apparent ;  the  dividend  wanting  a  little  more  than 
five  grains  in  order  to  furnish  the  same  quotient  ;  but  we  pres 
ently  perceive  that  Mr.  HASSLER  has  given  to  the  bushel  only 
2150.4  cubic  inches,  dropping  the  last  decimal ;  and  that 
252.6934  X  2150.4-=  543,391.88736  ;  or,  taking  the  nearest  deci- 
,mal  in  the  hundredths  place,  543,391.89,  as  stated  in  the  re 
port. 

The  value  given,  as  mentioned  above,  by  Mr.  HASSLER,  in  his 
report  of  1842,  as  being  "the  English  determination,"  and 


MEASURES  OP  CAPACITY.  159 

which  is  there  stated  by  him  to  be  the  basis  on  which  the 
United  States  measures  of  capacity  are  founded,  is  also  given 
explicitly  in  the  report  of  ten  years  before — i.  e.,  the  same  report 
in  which,  as  we  have  seen,  the  standards  of  capacity  are  regu 
lated  in  accordance  with  the  weight  derived  from  the  kilo 
gramme  ;  so  that  the  choice  at  that  time  seems  to  have  been 
deliberately  made.  The  difference  between  the  values  is  not  of 
serious  importance,  amounting  only  to  eleven  or  twelve  grains 
in  a  gallon  ;  but  it  is  certainly  a  logical  error  to  found  a  measure 
of  capacity  which  is  to  be  adjusted  by  weighing  in  the  air,  upon 
a  unit  of  weight  which  is  true  only  in  vacuo.  It  was  perhaps 
also  an  error  of  judgment  to  derive  this  unit  of  weight  from  the 
kilogramme  at  all ;  when  the  remaining  determinations  cited  in 
the  report  in  which  this  choice  is  made,  are  discordant  with  this, 
and  are  generally  harmonious  among  themselves. 

It  might  be  supposed  that  when  Mr.  HASSLER,  in  1842,  announced 
that  the  capacity  measures  of  the  United  States  were  adjusted 
by  weight  in  accordance  with  the  English  determination  of  the 
weight  of  the  standard  cubic  inch  of  water,  viz.,  252.7453,  he 
had  modified  the  total  weight  of  the  gallon  correspondingly; 
and  this,  if  he  had  been  silent  as  to  that  point,  would  necessarily 
have  been  taken  for  granted.  He  removes,  however,  the  possi 
bility  of  such  an  impression,  by  immediately  stating,  in  the 
same  report  of  1842,  that  the  weight  corresponding  to  the  gal 
lon  is  58,373  grains  ;  a  weight  identical  with  the  original 
determination,  excepting  that  the  decimal  is  dropped,  and 
the  last  figure  of  the  integral  number  is  increased  by  a 
unit.  If  the  British  value  had  been  actually  employed,  the 
gallon,  in  order  to  preserve  its  "  legal  capacity,"  should  have 
been  made  to  contain  58,384.1643  grains  ;  or  11.9889  grains 
more  than  assigned  it  in  1832.* 


*  On  supposition  that  the  value  252.7453  grains  is  true,  the  actual  standard  brass  gallon  meas 
ure  of  the  United  States  has  the  legal  capacity  of  231  cubic  inches,  not  at  the  temperature  of  the 
maximum  density  of  water,  but  6°. 51  F.  above  that  temperature;  or,  putting  the  temperature  of 
maximum  density  at  39°.  1  F.,  the  brass  standard  gallon  contains  231  cubic  inches  at  45°. 61  F. 


160  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

The  rep6rt  of  1832  gives  not  only  the  determination  called  the 
English;  but  also  the  manner  in  which  this  value  was  deduced. 
It  is  a  mean  of   several,  all  of  which  were  obtained  by  reducing 
the  weight  given  in  the  British  act  of  Parliament  of  1824  fixing 
the  standards  of  capacity,  as  being  that  of  a  cubic  inch  of  water 
taken  at  62°  F.  of  temperature  and  under  a  barometric  pressure 
of  thirty  inches,  to  the  temperature  of  the  maximum  density  of 
water  ;  by  means  of  coefficients,  experimentally  determined,  for 
the  variation  of  density  with  changes  of  temperature.    The  value 
given  in  the  act  is  252.458  grains.  It  was  derived  originally  from 
the  very  elaborate  researches  upon  weights  and  measures  of  Sir 
GEORGE  SHUCKBUEGH  EVELYN,  a  member  of  the  Koyal  Society  ; 
of  which  a   full  account  was  published,  in  1798,    in  the  Philo 
sophical    Transactions.        In    determining,     in     the    course     of 
these  researches,  the  weight  of   a  given  volume  of  water,  Sir 
GEORGE  made  use  of  three  different  solids;  one  of  them  being 
a  cube,  one  a  cylinder,  and  one   a  sphere.     In  the  year  1818,  a 
Royal  Commission  was  appointed  and  charged  with  the  duty  of 
inquiring  and  reporting  on  the  subject  of  weights  and  measures, 
with  a  view  to  legislation.     The  chairman  of  this  committee  was 
Sir  JOSEPH  BANKS  ;  and  it  embraced,  among  other  distinguished 
members,  Dr.  WOLLASTON,  Dr.  YOUNG,  and  Captain  HENRY  KATER. 
The  experimental  inquiries  instituted   by  the  committee  were 
chiefly  conducted  by  Capt.  KATER;  and,  in  the  course  of  them, 
this  gentleman  carefully  revised  the  researches  of   Sir  GEORGE 
SHUCKBURGH,  remeasuring  with  microscopic  accuracy  the  three 
solids  which  had  been  used  by  him.      The  weighings  were  not 
repeated.    They  had  been  made  by  means  of  a  set  of  weights  con 
structed  expressly  for  the  purpose  by  TROUGHTON;  which  weights 
accorded  perfectly  among  themselves,  but   were  a  trifle  light 
when  compared  with  the  parliamentary  standard;  the  difference 
amounting  to  nearly  two  thirds  of  a  grain  in  one  thousand  grains. 
The  weighings  were  made  in  the  air  at  different  temperatures 
and  under  different  pressures,  the  temperature  of  the  water  clif- 


MEASURES  OF  CAPACITY.  161 

fering  also  from  that  of  the  air ;  but  the  results  were  all  reduced 
to  the  standard  temperature  of  62 o  F.,  and  the  standard  press 
ure  of  thirty  inches  of  the  barometer.  The  volume  of  the  cube 
was  124.1969  cubic  inches,  at  62°  F.  of  temperature;  that  of  the 
cylinder,  75.2398  cubic  inches;  and  that  of  the  sphere  113.5264 
cubic  inches.  The  first  gave  the  weight  of  the  cubic  inch  of 
water,  in  vacuo,  252.907  of  Sir  GEORGE  SHUCKBURGH'S  grains;  the 
second  252.851,  and  the  third,  252.907.  The  mean  of  these 
values  is  252.888;  which  reduced  to  grains  of  the  parliamentary 
standard  is  252.722. 

In  making  these  reductions,  every  circumstance  which  could 
affect  the  result  was  carefully  considered  ;  the  difference  of  bulk 
of  the  solid  at  the  temperature  of  the  experiment  and  at  62°  F., 
as  well  as  the  difference  of  density  of  water  at  the  same  two 
temperatures,  being  computed  with  severe  accuracy.  The  buoy 
ant  power  of  the  atmosphere  in  diminishing  the  weight,  not  only 
of  the  solid  immersed,  but  also  of  the  counterpoise  weights,  was 
likewise  taken  into  the  account.* 

The  weight  in  the  air  deduced  from  the  weight  in  vacuo  given 
above,  is  obtained  by  subtracting  the  calculated  weight  of  the  air 
displaced  by  the  water,  less  that  of  the  air  displaced  by  the 
counterpoises.  The  remainder,  being  multiplied  by  a  coefficient 
expressive  of  relative  density  at  the  two  temperatures  compared, 
gives  the  weight  at  the  temperature  of  maximum  density,  and 
under  the  standard  pressure,  f  Mr.  HASSLER'S  report  of  1832 
gives  three  such  coefficients,  derived  directly  or  indirectly  from 
GILPIN,  with  the  weights  obtained  by  means  of  them  ;  and  also 
the  mean  of  these  weights,  which  is  252.7487  :  but  the  particular 
result  which  is  called,  in  the  subsequent  report,  "  the  English 
determination,"  viz.,  252.7453,  is  one  given  by  VAN  DER  TOORN, 
of  Amsterdam,  from  his  own  computations,  based  on  GILPIN. 

*  From  an  examination  of  RATER'S  computations,  it  appears  that  the  constants  employed  by 
him  may,  in  some  instances,  be  advantageously  modified.  His  reductions  have  been,  therefore, 
carefully  re-examined,  and  the  results  are  given  in  a  separate  note,  which  follows  the  present 

t  This  was  Mr.  HASSLER'S  order  of  proceeding  :  rigorous  accuracy  would  require,  however,  that 
the  reduction  to  maximum  density  should  be  made  before  correcting  for  buoyancy. 


162 


METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 


In  the  same  report  are  also  given  four  results  from  French 
authorities,  with  a  mean  of  252.7098  ;  and  quite  a  variety  from 
VAN  DER  TOORN,  ranging  from  252.5658  to  the  one  given  above, 
viz.,  252.7453.  The  results  from  British  authorities,  of  which 
the  mean  is  given  in  the  last  paragraph,  are  all  higher  than  any 
from  other  sources.  Of  fifteen  different  determinations  embraced 
in  the  table  of  the  report,  all  except  five  are  greater  than  that 
upon  which  Mr.  HASSLER  founded  the  capacity  measures  of  the 
"United  States. 

It  is  difficult  to  account  for  the  not  inconsiderable  difference 
which  appears,  from  the  foregoing  figures,  to  exist  between  the 
weight  of  the  actual  prototype  platinum  kilogramme  of  France, 
and  the  weight  of  the  theoretic  kilogramme,  as  deduced  from  the 
British  experiments.  The  original  determination  of  this  standard 
was  made  with  great  care,  in  1795,  by  M.  LEFEVRE  GINEAU  ;  the 
method  employed  by  him  having  been  the  same  which  has  been 
described  as  used  by  Sir  GEORGE  SHUCKBURGH.  The  solid  employed 
in  the  weighings  was  constructed  in  the  form  of  a  cylinder,  such 
a  body  being  capable  of  being  constructed  and  measured  with 
the  greatest  precision.  It  was  hollow,  being  made  only  heavy 
enough  to  sink  freely  in  water.  In  dimensions  it  was  nearly 
two  decimetres  and  a  half  in  diameter,  and  of  equal  height.  The 
exact  mean  height  and  diameter  were  determined  by  an  extreme 
refinement  of  measurement  to  the  ten  thousandth  of  a  milli 
metre,  at  the  temperature  of  17°.6  C  =  63°.68  F.  The  volume 
computed  upon  these  measurements  was  then  reduced  to  the 
temperature  of  melting  ice,  at  which  it  was  determined  to  be 
very  nearly  11.28  cubic  decimetres  =  688.385  cubic  inches. 

The  weighings  were  made  by  means  of  weights  prepared  ex 
pressly  for  the  purpose  ;  the  unit  being  an  approximate  kilo 
gramme,  and  the  smaller  weights,  decimal  sub-multiples  of  this 
down  to  the  one-millionth  part,  carefully  verified,  and  pre 
sumed  to  be  less  than  one  half  of  one  one-millionth  part  in  error. 
The  counterpoise  weights  having  been  of  the  same  metal  with  the 


MEASURES    OF    CAPACITY.  163 

cylinder,  no  allowance  for  displacement  was  necessary  in  weigh 
ing  in  the  air,  the  interior  of  the  cylinder  being  in  communica 
tion  with  the  atmosphere  during  this  operation.  In  weighing 
the  cylinder  immersed,  the  weight  of  the  confined  air  was  de 
ducted  as  well  as  that  of  the  air  displaced  by  the  weights.  Thus, 
no  precaution  was  neglected  which  seemed  to  be  necessary  to 
secure  accuracy;  and  yet  the  resulting  weight  of  the  cubic  deci 
metre  of  water  as  thus  determined  is  sensibly  less  than  that  de 
duced  by  the  British  and  by  most  of  the  continental  experi 
menters. 

Mr.  CHISHOLM  gives,  however,  in  the  Sixth  Appendix  to  the 
Second  Eeport  of  the  British  Standards  commission,  "  an  impor 
tant  computation  of  the  actual  weight  of  a  cubic  decimetre  of 
water  at  its  maximum  density,  in  terms  of  the  standard  Kilo 
gramme  des  Archives,  the  computation  being  based  upon  KUPF- 
FER'S  observations  of  the  weight  of  a  cubic  inch  of  water  and  of 
the  standard  kilogramme."  The  details  of  these  observations 
and  calculations  are  given  in  a  voluminous  report  of  the  com 
mission  appointed  to  fix  the  standards  of  weight  and  measure  of 
the  Russian  empire,  published  in  1841. 

KUPFFER  appears  to  have  found  the  weight  of  the  cubic  inch  of 
water  in  vacuo,  at  13°  J  E.  =  16°. 67  C  =  62°  F.,  to  be  only 
252.598  grains.  He  also  found  the  weight  of  the  standard  kilo 
gramme  to  be  15432.36186  grains  ;  exceeding  that  found  by 
Prof.  MILLER  by  the  minute  fraction  0.01312.  Mr.  CHISHOLM  re 
marks  that,  "  according  to  this  computation,  based  upon  KATER'S 
valuation  of  the  metre,  a  cubic  decimetre  of  water  at  its  maxi 
mum  density  weighs  1000.0115  grammes  ;  and  therefore  11.5 
milligrammes,  or  0.17747  grains  more  than  a  kilogramme.  By 
a  similar  computation,  if  Capt.  CLARKE'S  more  recent  valuation 
of  the  metre  =  39.370432  English  inches  be  taken  as  the  base, 
a  cubic  decimetre  of  water,  at  its  maximum  density,  weighs  15 
milligrammes,  or  0.23145  grains  less  than  a  kilogramme.  If  the 
mean  of  these  two  computations  be  taken,  the  weight  of  a  cubic 


164  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

decimetre  of  water  at  its  maximum  density  will  be  only  1.75 
milligrammes,  or  0.027  grains  less  than  a  kilogramme." 

Mr.  CHISHOLM  has  carefully  verified  all  the  computations  of 
KUPFFER,  and  remarks  that  "  KUPFFER'S  operations  for  determin 
ing  the  weight  cf  a  cubic  inch  of  water  appear  to  have  been 
made  with  the  greatest  possible  care  and  accuracy."  He  con 
cludes,  however,  with  the  observation,  that  "  in  point  of  fact,  the 
authority  of  a  computation  based  upon  the  imperial  weights 
and  measures  used  by  KUPFFER  cannot  be  put  in  comparison 
with  that  based  on  the  imperial  standards  used  by  SHUCKBURGH 
and  KATER  ;"  and  that  "  it  may  therefore  be  stated  that  the  legal 
weight  in  a  vacuum  of  a  cubic  inch  of  water  at  62°  Fahrenheit, 
thus  scientifically  and  authoritatively  determined,  is  252.722 
grains." 

One  further  remark  remains  to  be  added,  in  order  that  the 
purpose  of  this  note  may  be  complete  ;  which  is  in  reference 
to  the  mode  of  adjustment  of  the  standard  measures  of  capa 
city  actually  employed  in  practice  at  the  Bureau  of  "Weights  and 
Measures.  Though  the  weight  of  water  which  these  standards 
should  contain  is  that  of  a  definite  number  of  cubic  inches  taken 
at  the  temperature  of  maximum  density,  and  under  the  baro 
metric  pressure  of  thirty  inches,  yet  the  adjustments  are  made  at 
the  ordinary  temperature,  and  in  any  state  of  the  barometer  ;  the 
test  weight  which  the  vessels  are  made  to  contain  being  that 
which  the  expansion  of  the  material  from  the  standard  tempera 
ture  to  the  temperature  of  observation  would  adapt  them  to 
hold  of  the  fluid,  which  also  expands  simultaneously.  If  it  were 
true  that  the  capacity  of  the  vessel  and  the  bulk  of  the  contained 
liquid  expanded  equally  throughout  the  range  to  which  observa 
tion  extends,  then  it  would  happen  that  the  vessel  would  hold 
exactly  the  same  weight  of  liquid  under  all  variations  of 
temperature.  But  this  is  not  the  case.  Near  the  standard 
temperature,  the  capacity  is  enlarged  by  elevation  of  tempera 
ture  more  rapidly  than  the  bulk  of  the  liquid  ;  and,  therefore, 


MEASURES    OF   CAPACITY.  165 

for  a  range  of  about  twelve  or  thirteen  degrees  above  the  tem 
perature  of  maximum  density,  the  vessel  is  capable  of  holding  a 
somewhat  larger  weight  than  at  that  temperature.  But  above 
the  forty-sixth  degree  of  Fahrenheit's  thermometer,  the  volume 
of  the  liquid  begins  fco  expand  faster  than  the  capacity  of  the 
vessel ;  so  that,  at  about  52°  F.,  the  weight  of  the  water  which 
the  vessel  will  contain  is  once  more  equal  to  what  it  was  at  the 
standard  temperature.  This  makes  the  temperature  of  52°  F. 
a  particularly  favorable  one  for  the  practical  operations  of  the 
adjustment  ;  and  it  is  one  which  is  more  easy  to  command  than 
that  of  39°  F. 

The  barometric  corrections,  according  to  Mr.  HASSLER,  are 
made  on  the  supposition  of  a  constant  specific  gravity  of  ¥iy,  of 
air,  under  the  normal  pressure.  In  NOTE  2,  which  follows  this, 
are  stated  some  reasons  for  believing  that  this  specific  gravity 
is  too  small.  By  the  method  there  described,  the  weight  of  a 
cubic  inch  of  air  of  ordinary  humidity  under  the  pressure  of  30 
inches,  at  52°  F.,  is  found  to  be  0.31124313  ;  and  this,  divided 
by  the  weight  of  a  cubic  inch  of  water  in  vacuo  at  62°  F.,  as 
there  found,  viz.,  252.75965,  gives  the  specific  gravity  0.001231400 
=  812  Qft3-  As  in  practice,  however,  the  specific  gravity  appears 
to  be  made  a  factor  in  a  coefficient  of  correction,  which  is  mul 
tiplied  directly  into  the  observed  weight  of  the  water  in  the 
vessel,  the  divisor  should  be  the  weight  in  vacuo  of  the  cubic 
inch  of  water  at  52°  F.  rather  than  at  62°  F.  ;  which  weight  is 
252.94021  grains,  giving  a  specific  gravity  of  0.001230501 
=  bia  b77  But  as  it  is,  probably,  the  water  only  which  is 
taken  at  52°  F.;  the  weighing  being  made  in  air  of  ordinary 
temperature,  or  between  60°  F.  and  70°  F.,  Mr.  HASSLER'S 
specific  gravity  will,  under  the  actual  circumstances,  be  very 
near  the  truth.  It  is  however  to  be  observed  that,  if  the  normal 
weight  of  the  cubic  inch  of  water  at  maximum  density  in  air, 
be  taken  on  supposition  that  the  air  is  itself  also  at  the  tem 
perature  of  39.  °1  F.,  there  should  be  a  correction  for  the  thermic 


166  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

condition  of  the  atmosphere,  as  well  as  for  pressure  :  and  as  this 
would,  in  general,  be  materially  the  greater  of  the  two,  it  is 
apparently  a  needless  refinement  of  accuracy  to  consider  the 
fluctuations  of  the  barometer,  if  the  atmospheric  temperature 
be  disregarded.  A  cubic  inch  of  air,  under  normal  pressure, 
weighs,  at  62°  F.,  about  one  twenty-third  part  less  than  at  39° 
F.  ;  while  even  so  large  a  barometric  variation  as  an  entire 
inch,  affects,  at  constant  temperature,  the  same  weight,  only  one 
thirtieth  part.  Neglect  of  the  first  of  these  corrections  would 
occasion  error  in  the  weight  of  the  gallon  to  the  extent  of  nearly 
three  grains  (2.88  gr.)  ;  while,  in  the  case  of  the  second,  the 
error  would  ordinarily  be  less  than  one  grain ;  and  would 
amount  to  only  about  two,  on  the  supposition,  just  made,  of  the 
extreme  barometric  variation  of  an  entire  inch. 

Supposing,  however,  that  the  regulating  weight  of  the  meas 
ures  of  capacity  is  not  the  weight  in  the  air,  but  the  weight  in 
vacuo,  of  a  cubic  inch  of  water  of  maximum  density,  it  is  the 
total  weight  of  the  air  displaced  by  the  water,  less  that  of  the  air 
displaced  by  the  counterpoises,  which  should  be  allowed  for  in 
the  adjustments.  Such  a  regulating  weight  appears,  as  shown 
in  the  preceding  note,  to  have  been  selected  by  Mr.  HASSLER  ; 
yet  his  formulas  for  correction  are  constructed  as  if  this  weight 
had  been  determined  by  weighing  in  the  air  under  the  normal 
pressure  at  the  temperature  of  62°  F.  Hence  would  follow  the 
theoretic  consequence,  that  the  bushel  and  gallon,  at  the  stand 
ard  temperature,  must  be  slightly  above  their  legal  capacity. 
But  inasmuch  as  this  regulating  weight,  derived  as  we  have 
seen  from  the  kilogramme,  is  below  that  deduced  from  the 
British  experiments  as  being  the  weight  under  normal  pressure 
in  the  air,  there  seems  to  be  a  probability  that  the  error  of  the 
standard  measures  of  capacity  of  the  United  States,  if  any 
exists,  is  on  the  side  of  deficiency  rather  than  of  excess. 


MEASURES  OF  CAPACITY.  167 


NOTE  2.— REEXAMINATION  OF  CAPTAIN  KATER'S 
DETERMINATION  OF  THE  WEIGHT  OF  A 
GIVEN  VOLUME  OF  WATER. 

In  recomputing  Captain  KATER'S  results,  referred  to  in  the 
preceding  note,  employing  his  own  data,  some  slight,  though 
not  very  important,  discrepancies  are  observed.  The  details  of 
the  recomputation  are  here  presented. 

I.   FOE  THE  CUBE: 

Temperature  of  air  during  the  weighing.  =  62°  F. 

"     water         "  "  =  60°2  F. 

Height  of  barometric  column  during  the 

weighing =29  inches. 

Specific  gravity  of  air  at  62°  F.  and  30 

inches  barometer =  ¥^ 

Specific  gravity  of  weights  employed ....  =8.5. 
Density  of   solid  to    density    at  62°    F. 

as  unity =  1.0000567. 

Density  of  water  to    density  at  62°  F. 

as  unity =  1.00017. 

Volume  of  solid  at  62°  F =  124.1969  cu.  in. 

Apparent  weight  of  water  displaced. . . .  =  31,381.79  grains. 
With  these  data,  the  following  are   the  results  obtained  as 
compared  with  those  originally  deduced  by  KATES,  himself  from 
the  same. 

1.  Correction  for  displacement: 

KATER'S  RESULT.  BECOMPUTATION. 

i  oq        7   K 

31,381.79  .  -  -   .  -=-  .    '-- =32.000.  32.094. 

oOi  oO  o.O 

2.  Weight  in  vacuo  of  water  displaced : 

KATER'S  RESULT.  RECOMPUTATION. 

31,381.79  +  32.00  =  31,413.79.        31,381.79+32.094  =  31,413,884, 


168  METRIC    SYSTEM  --  APPENDIX. 

3.    Reduction  to  the  standard  temperature: 

KATEB'S  RESULT.  RECOMPUTATION. 

3M13.79  .  =  31410.24. 


4.  "Weight  in  vacuo  of  cubic  inch  of  water  at  62°  F.  : 
EATER'S  RESULT.  RECOMPUTATION. 


II.  FOR  THE  CYLINDER: 

In  this  case,  the  temperature  of  the  air  at  the  weighing, 
and  therefore,  also,  its  specific  gravity,  remain  the  same  as 
before.  The  stand  of  the  barometer  is  likewise  the  same,  and 
the  same  counterpoise  weights  continue  to  be  used.  The  other 
conditions  are  different,  as  follows: 

Temperature  of  the  water  during  the  weigh 

ing  ...............................  =  60°5  F. 

Density  of  solid  to  density  at  62°  F  .....  =  1.000047. 

Density  of  water  to  density  at  62°  F  ____  =  1.0001456. 

Volume  of  solid  at  62°  F  ..............  =  75,2398  cu.  in. 

Apparent  weight  of  water  displaced  .....  =  19,006.83  grains. 

From  which  we  obtain, 

1.    Correction  for  displacement  : 

KATEE'S  RESULT.  RECOMPUTATION. 


1!U385' 


2.  Weight  in  vacuo,  of  water  displaced: 

KATER'S  RESULT.  RECOMPUTATION. 

19,00683+19.43  =  19,020,26.  19,006.83+19.4385  =  19,026.2685. 

3.  Reduction  to  standard  temperature: 

KATER'S  RESULT.  RECOMPUTATION, 

19'°26-20  ' 


MEASURES    OF   CAPACITY.  169 

4.  Weight  in  vacuo  of  cubic  inch  of  water: 

KATEK'S  RESULT.  RECOMPUTATION. 

' 


III.  FOR  THE  SPHERE: 

The  conditions  in  this  experiment  are  all  changed,  excepting 
the  specific  gravity  of  the  counterpoise  weights.  The  rest  are 
as  follows  : 

Temperature  of  the  air  during  the  weigh 

ing  ...............................  =  67°  F. 

Temperature   of    the   water   during  the 

weighing  ..........................  =  66°  F. 

Height  of  barometric  column  ..........  =29.74  inches. 

Specific  gravity  of  air  at  67°  F  .........  =  y-i^. 

Density  of  solid  to  density  at  62°  F  .....  =  0.999874. 

Density  of  water  to  density  at  62°  F  ____  =  0.99958. 

Yolume  of  solid  at  62°  F  ..............  =  113.5264  cu.  in. 

Apparent  weight  of  water  displaced  .  .  .  .  =  28,673.51  grains. 

Whence  we  deduce  — 

1.  Correction  for  displacement: 

KATEK'S  RESULT.  RECOMPUTATION. 

28,673.51  .  -L  .  ?^i  .  ™  =  29.72.  29.7519. 

olo          oU         o.o 

2.  Weight  in  vacuo  of  water  displaced: 

KATEK'S  RESULT.  RECOMPUTATION. 

28,673.51+29  72  =  28,703.23.  28,673.51  +  29.7519=28,703.2619. 

3.  Reduction  to  standard  temperature  : 

KATER'S  RESULT.  RECOMPUTATION. 

28'703-23  •  =  28'711'66-       28'703'2619  •  =^.711.6992. 


4.   Weight  in  vacuo  of  cubic  inch  of  water: 

KATEK'S  RESULT.  RECOMPUTATION. 

^711.66  28,711.6992 


113.5264 


__ 

~  252.90768. 


170  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

KATEK'S  RESULT.  RECOMPUTATION. 

Kesulting  mean 252.888  252.8885 

Mean  in  parliamentary  grains 252.722  252.7225 

Whence  weight  in  air,  62°  F.  and  30  in.  bar.     252.456  252.4551 

In  the  final  result  the  discrepancies  which  appear  in  the  pro 
cess  of  calculation  nearly  balance  each  other. 

The  computations  of  Captain  KATER,  here  reviewed,  form  an 
appendix  to  the  third  report  of  the  parliamentary  committee 
of  1818.  In  the  report  itself,  the  weight  of  the  cubic  inch  of 
water  in  vacuo  at  62°  F.  is  given  as  252.754,  and  the  Appendix 
is  referred  to  as  authority.  The  discrepancy  between  the  two 
statements  is  not  explained  ,  but  the  statement  of  the  report 
furnishes  a  reason  if  not  a  justification  for  the  adoption  in 
the  British  statute  of  1824  (5  GEORGE  IV.,  c.  74),  of  the  value 
252 . 458  as  that  of  the  weight  of  a  cubic  inch  of  water  in  the  air, 
both  water  and  air  being  at  the  temperature  of  62°  F.,  and  the 
barometer  standing  at  thirty  inches — a  value  upon  which  Mr. 
HASSLER  has  based  his  reductions  to  the  temperature  of  maxi 
mum  density  in  his  report  of  1832  ;  though,  as  is  shown  in  the 
NOTE  foregoing,  he  set  aside  the  value  found  by  these  reduc 
tions  in  favor  of  that  derived  from  his  authentic  brass  kilo 
gramme,  in  fixing  the  weights  which  determine  the  standard 
measures  of  capacity  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  HASSLER'S  reduc 
tions,  here  referred  to,  take  no  account  of  the  different  specific 
gravities  of  the  air  at  the  two  temperatures  considered  ;  a  cir 
cumstance  which  to  a  certain  slight  extent  vitiates  the  result, 
whether  the  reduced  weight  be  referred  to  air  at  39°  1  F.,  or  to 
air  at  G2°  F. 

The  specific  gravities  of  air  employed  by  Captain  KATER  in 
the  calculation  above  reviewed  are  certainly  too  small.  It  is 
worth  while,  therefore,  to  repeat  the  operations  with  new  con 
stants.  The  following  values  for  the  weight  in  grains  of  a  cubic 
inch  of  dry  air  at  60°  F.  of  temperature,  and  under  a  barome- 


MEASURES    OF   CAPACITY.  171 

trie  pressure  of  thirty  inches,  are  given  by  the  several  authori 
ties  named  : 

Biot  and  Arago 0.31074 

Dumas  and  Boussingault 0 . 31086 

Kegnault 0.30938 

Prout..  0.31017 


Mean 0 . 3102675 

If  we  reduce  to  62°,  supposing  the  pressure  constant,  and 
assuming  the  absolute  zero  to  be  at  461°  below  0°  F.,  we  shall 
obtain  the  result  0.30908093  grs.  ;  and  taking  the  cubic  inch  of 
water  in  vacuo  at  the  same  temperature  to  be  252 . 722  as  above, 
we  shall  obtain  a  specific  gravity  of  0.0012230076,  or  Q^-TT^- 

ol  i  •  uOO* 

"We  may  presume  the  weighings  of  the  experimenters  whose 
determinations  are  here  cited,  to  have  been  made  without  allow 
ance  for  the  displacement  of  air  by  the  counterpoise  weights. 
The  displacement  of  the  air-vessel  employed  in  the  experiments 
would  be  the  same,  of  course,  before  and  after  exhaustion.*  The 
allowance  for  the  counterpoises,  if  made,  will  slightly  reduce 
the  observed  weight  ;  and  will  reduce,  of  course,  the  resulting 
specific  gravity.  This  allowance  is  made  here  accordingly,  that 
nothing  may  be  omitted  which  tends  to  diminish  the  difference 
between  the  specific  gravities  deduced  from  these  weights  and 
those  employed  by  KATER.  The  counterpoises  are  supposed  to 
be  of  brass,  having  the  specific  gravity  of  those  used  in  the 
British  experiments,  viz.,  8.5.  The  weight,  after  the  correction 
thus  indicated,  becomes  0 . 309036458  grs.  ;  and  the  resulting 
specific  gravity  is  0.0012228315  =  8ll\14:- 

This  is  on  supposition  that  the  air  is  dry.  In  KAXKINE'S 
Manual  of  the  Steam  Engine,  there  are  given  tables  of  the  pres 
sure  and  weight  per  cubic  foot  of  watery  vapor  from  32°  F. 

*  In  order  to  eliminate  entirely  the  effect  of  displacement,  in  experiments  on  the  weight  of 
air  and  gases,  the  expedient  was  employed  by  REGNACLT  and  PROUT,  of  suspending  to  the  oppo 
site  scale  of  the  balance,  a  second  vessel  exactly  similar  in  form  and  equal  in  weight  to  that 
containing  the  gas  to  be  weighed. 


172  METRIC  SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

upward.  It  is  reasonable  to  assume  the  average  depression  of 
the  dew  point  to  be  not  less  than  six  degrees.  If,  therefore,  to 
the  weight  of  a  cubic  inch  of  dry  air  as  already  found,  we  add 
the  weight  of  a  cubic  inch  of  watery  vapor,  supposed  saturated  at 
a  temperature  six  degrees  below,  and  if  from  the  same  we  sub 
tract  a  fraction  of  its  total  weight  indicated  by  the  ratio  of  the 
tension  of  the  vapor  to  the  total  tension,  the  result  should  be  the 
ordinary  weight  of  a  cubic  inch  of  air  at  the  standard  tempera 
ture  and  pressure.  These  operations  having  been  performed, 
we  find  at  length  the  weight  at  62°  F.,  proper  for  our  pur 
poses,  to  be  0.307386258  grains;  giving  a  specific  gravity  of 
0.001216302  ==  99  A  similar  computation  gives  the  weight 

of  a  cubic  inch  of  air  at  67°  F.  and  30  inches  of  pressure  as 
0.304150644  grs.,  with  a  specific  gravity  to  water  at  62°  F.,  of 

0.001203498  =  ^ 

In  the  calculations  given  below,  these  values  are  employed  ; 
and  the  densities  of  water  at  different  temperatures,  instead  of 
being  taken  from  GILPIN,  are  derived  from  the  more  recent 
determinations  of  KOPP.  The  constants  for  the  expansion  and 
contraction  of  brass  remain  as  stated  by  KATER.  The  tempera 
ture  of  the  maximum  density  of  water  as  given  by  HASSLER 
(39°.83  F.  =  4°.35  C.)  is  doubtless  too  high.  It  is  given  by 
CHISHOLM,  on  the  authority  of  PLAYFAIR  and  JOULE,  (Second 
Eeport  of  the  Royal  Standards  Commission,  1869,  Appendix  VI.) 
at  3°. 945  C.  =  39°.101  F.  ;  and  inasmuch  as  the  variation  of 
density  is  almost  insensible  near  that  point,  we  may  assume  it 
for  the  purposes  of  this  calculation  at  4°  C  =39°. 2  F. 

The  following  then  are  the  coefficients  of  volume  of  water  at 
the  several  temperatures  named,  as  taken  directly  or  deduced 
by  interpolation  from  the  tables  of  KOPP. 

At  32°  F.=  0°.0  C  1.000000  At  60°.5  F.=  15°.83  C.  1.000820 
"  39.2  "  =  4.0  "  0.999877  "  62.0  "  =  16.67  "  1.000953 
"60.2  "=15.662"  1.000795  "  66.0  "  =18.89  "  1.001350 


MEASURES  OF  CAPACITY.  173 

For  the  dilatation  and  contraction  of  brass,  if  we  take  the 
density  at  62°  F.  as  unity,  we  shall  have  the  following  coeffi 
cients. 
For  60°.2  F 1.00005670       For  62°  F 1.00000000 

"  60.5  " 1.00004725         "     66     "    0.99987400 

Putting  now 

"W    =  the  apparent  weight  of  the  water  displaced. 

W   =  the  weight  after  correction  for  displacement. 

"\V"  =  the  corrected  and  reduced  weight,  being  the  weight  at 
62°  F.  in  vacua. 

S      =  specific  gravity  of  dry  air  at  62°  F.  to  water  at  62°  F. 

c  =  correction  of  S  for  humidity.  It  is  the  weight  per  cubic 
inch  of  saturated  aqueous  vapor  at  6°  F.  below  the 
temperature  of  observation,  less  the  proportion  of 
the  total  weight  per  cubic  inch  of  vapor  and  dry  air, 
expressed  by  the  ratio  of  tension  of  vapor  to  joint 
tension  of  vapor  and  air, — divided  by  the  weight  per 
cubic  inch  of  water  at  62°  F.  in  vacuo. 

s  =  specific  gravity  at  62°  F.  of  body  weighed  to  water  at 
62°  F. 

T  =  British  standard  temperature  (62°  F.),  referred  to  the 
absolute  zero  (-461°  F). 

T      =  temperature  of  the  air  at  the  weighing,  referred  to  same. 

p     —  standard  barometric  pressure. 

P       =  barometric  pressure  at  the  weighing. 

Y     =  coefficient  of  volume  of  water  at  62°  F.,  from  table. 

Y  =  «  "  «  "  at  temperature  of  experi 

ment. 

D     =  density  of  brass  at  62°  F. 

D      =         "          "         at  temperature  of  experiment. 

C      =  correction  for  displacement. 


17-1  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

The  correction  for  displacement,  to  be  added  to  W,  will  be 
found  by  the  formula, 

C=  W  ,(S  .    *-  +  c\  .  4-  .  i  .  SDY-PV.  • 

\  T  /          V  P  8I>V 

This  correction  having  been  added  to  "W,  the  sum  "W  will 
represent  the  weight  in  vacua  of  the  volume  of  water  actually 
displaced  by  the  solid,  with  the  density  belonging  to  the  water 
at  the  temperature  of  the  experiment.  This  volume  is  then  to 
be  reduced  to  the  volume  at  62°  F.  ,by  means  of  the  coefficients 
of  density  of  brass  given  above;  and  the  density,  to  the  density 
at  62°,  by  means  of  those  of  volume  for  water,  in  accordance 
with  the  following  formula, 

IT-IT.  4,'*; 

Performing  the  operations  and  putting  CA,  CB,  Cc,  "WA,  "WB,  Wc, 
to  represent  the  several  corrections,  and  the  several  weights  as 
corrected,  we  find, 

CA  =32.5513.     C    =19.7157.     Cc  =30.5180. 
And 

WA  —31, 414. 3413.     WB  =19,026.5157.     Wc  =28, 714. 0280. 

These,  further  reduced  by  the  second  formula,  give 
'  W,  =31, 41 1.0808.     W2 =19, 024. 8829.     W3  =28, 71 1.7140. 

"Whence,  dividing  by  the  measured  bulks  of  the  solids  im 
mersed,  there  are  obtained  the  three  values  for  the  weight  of  the 
cubic  inch  of  water  in  vacuo  at  62°  F.,  and  30  inches  of  baro 
metric  pressure,  252.9130  grs.,  252.8566  grs.,  and  252.9959  grs.  ; 
giving  a  mean  of  252.9220  grs.  This  weight  being  expressed  in 
the  grains  of  Sir  GEORGE  SHUCKURGH,  must  be  reduced  to  the  par 
liamentary  standard,  by  multiplying  by  the  coefficient  0.9993432 
which  gives  as  a  final  result,  252.75965  grs.  standard. 

There  is  reason,  therefore,  to  think  that  the  reductions  made 
by  Captain  KATER  from  the  experiments  of  Sir  GEORGE  SHUCK- 

*  This  last  factor     E  —  is  put  into  this  form  only  because  it  is  what  the  rigid  theoretic 

S  D  V 

truth  requires.     Practically  the  specific  gravity,  s,  may  be  regarded  as  invariable;  and  in  place  of 
this  factor,  may  be  written  — I — 


MEASURES    OF   CAPACITY.  175 

BURGH,  after  the  remeasurement  of  the  solid  bodies  employed  in 
those  experiments  had  been  carefully  made  by  himself,  give  a 
result  sensibly  though  slightly  too  small,  the  difference  amount 
ing  to  0.038  grs.  nearly. 

If,  from  the  weight  just  found,  we  deduct  the  proper  correction 
for  displacement  in  weighing  in  the  air,  at  the  British  standard 
temperature  and  pressure,  with  brass  weights  of  the  specific 
gravity  of  8.5,  we  shall  obtain  for  the  cubic  inch  of  water  under 
these  conditions,  the  value  252.48843  grs.  instead  of  252.456,  the 
result  found  by  KATER. 

Reducing  the  weight  in  vacuo  found  above  to  the  temperature 
of  maximum  density,  by  means  of  the  coefficients  of  volume 
from  the  table  of  KOPP,  we  find  for  the  cubic  inch  of  water 
under  these  conditions,  the  weight  253.0286.  KATER'S  value 
252.722,  reduced  by  means  of  the  coefficient  of  Prof.  MILLER 
employed  in  the  report  of  1869  of  the  Standards  Commission  of 
Great  Britain,  gives  253.00452  grs.  The  corresponding  value, 
as  deduced  from  the  kilogramme,  according  to  MILLER,  we  have 
seen  to  be  only  252.87718  grs.*  The  difference  is  0.12734  grs.; 
which,  multiplied  by  61.02705152,  the  number  of  cubic  inches  in 
a  cubic  decimetre,  gives  7.77118  grs.,  the  amount  by  which  the 
platinum  prototype  kilogramme  of  the  Archives  would  appear, 
from  this  determination,  to  be  too  light.  If  the  comparison  be 
made  with  the  value  found  in  the  foregoing  computation,  viz.  : 

*  As  there  are  three  determinations  of  the  weight  of  the  kilogramme  in  British  standard 
grains,  all  entitled  to  respect,  viz. :  (taken  in  the  order  of  publication)  those  of  HASSLER  (1832), 
KCPFFER  (1841),  and  MILLER  (1844);  and  also  three  determinations  of  the  metre  in  British  stand 
ard  inches,  and  therefore  of  the  cubic  decimetre,  or  litre,  in  British  standard  cubic  inches, 
similarly  deserving  of  consideration,  viz. :  (taken  likewise  in  the  order  of  publication)  those  of 
KATER  (1821),  HASSLER  (1832),  and  CLARKE  (1866),  it  follows  that,  by  combining  these  data  by 
pairs,  we  may  obtain  nine  values,  slightly  differing  from  each  other,  for  the  weight  in  vacuo  of 
the  cubic  inch  of  water  at  maximum  density,  as  derived  from  the  kilogramme.  It  may  be  inter 
esting  to  have  all  these  under  the  eye  in  a  single  group.  The  data  are  as  follows  : 

HASSLER.  KUPFFER.  MILLER. 

Kilogramme  (grains)...  15,433.1669  15432.36186  15432.34874 

KATER.  HASSLER.  CLARKE. 

Metre  (inches) 39. 37079  39. 3810327  39. 370432 

Litre  (cu.  in.) 61.02705152  61.07469428  61.02499296 

Taking,  now,  the  initial  letters  of  the   names   of  these   authorities   to   indicate  .the  several 


176  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

253.028G   grs.,  the   discrepancy  becomes   as  great   as   9.24072 
grains.* 

Returning  to  the  weight  of  the  cubic  inch  of  water  in  vacuo 
at  maximum  density,  as  found  by  our  own  reductions  above,  we 
shall  obtain  the  weight  in  air  at  the  corresponding  temperature, 
by  correcting,  as  in  previous  computations,  for  displacement. 
From  the  weight  of  the  cubic  inch  of  dry  air  at  62°  F.  and  at 
the  normal  pressure,  we  deduce  the  weight  at  39°.l  F.  under 
the  same  pressure,  by  the  ordinary  methods  ;  which  weight  we 
find  to  be  0.323187315  grs.  Correcting  then,  as  in  the  previous 
cases,  for  humidity,  we  obtain  the  reduced  weight  0.321240544 
grs.  And  multiplying  this  by  the  constant  0.882353,  which  ex 
presses  the  displacement  by  the  water  (taken  as  unity)  less  the 
displacement  by  the  brass  weights,  we  arrive  finally  at  the  cor 
rection  0.2834476  grs.,  which  is  to  be  subtracted  from  the  weight 
in  vacuo  as  found  above,  viz.,  252.0286  grs.  ;  leaving  finally 


values  of  the  kilogramme  and  of  the  litre,  and  using  the  large  capitals  for  the  first,  and  the  small 
capitals  for  the  second,  we  have  these  combinations  : 

WEIGHT,  WEIGHT,  WEIGHT, 

Cu.  in.  water,  Cu.  in.  water,  Cu.  in.  water, 

in  vacuo.  in  vacuo.  in  vacuo. 

H-f-K^  252. 89059  K -t- K  =  252.87736  M  -f-  K  =  252.87718 

H  +  u  =  252. 69330  (a)  K  -f-  H  =  252. 68033  M  -A.  11  =  252. 67992 

H  -5-  o  =  252.89912  K  -s-  c  =  252.88593  M  -s-  c  =  252.88593 

(a)  This  falls  short  of  the  value  given  by  Mr.  HASSLER  himself  (252. 6934)  by  one  ten  thousandth 
of  a  grain.  The  difference  arises  from  the  fact  that,  in  his  value  of  the  litre,  the  fifth  decimal 
figure  is  6  instead  of  9,  as,  from  his  value  of  the  metre,  it  should  be. 

The  largest  of  these  values  is  obtained  from  HASSLER'S  kilogramme  and  CLARKE'S  metre  ;  the 
smallest  from  MILLER'S  kilogramme  and  HASSLER'S  metre.  The  mean  of  the  whole  is  252.81885 
grains  ;  which  is  less  than  the  result  of  the  computation  in  the  text  by  0.20975  grs.  The  mean 
of  the  litres  is  61.04224625  cubic  inches  ;  and  if  the  difference  just  found  be  multiplied  by  this, 
the  kilogramme  of  the  Archives  will  appear  to  be  below  the  theoretic  weight  as  determined  by 
the  British  experiments,  to  the  extent  of  12. 80361  grains.  Rejecting  the  values  dependent  on  the 
metre  of  Mr.  HASSLER,  we  shall  h/sve  a  mean  of  252. 88451  grains,  for  the  cubic  inch  of  water, 
and  a  mean  litre  of  61.02602224  cubic  inches.  This  mean  weight  falls  below  the  computation  in 
the  text  by  0.14409  grs. ;  indicating  that  the  prototype  kilogramme  is  8.79324  grains  light.  But 
if  the  comparison  be  made  with  the  weight  deduced  from  the  report  of  the  Standards  Commis 
sion,  as  given  above,  viz.,  253.00452,  the  apparent  deficiency  per  cubic  inch  is  only  0.12001  grs., 
and  the  inferred  deficiency  of  weight  of  the  prototype  kilogramme  is  reduced  to  7.32373  grains. 

*  In  the  Report  above  referred  to,  of  the  Standards  Commission,  to  the  British  Parliament, 
made  in  1869,  the  Warden  of  the  Standards,  H.  W.  CHISHOLM,  Esq.,  singularly  enough  inverts 
this  statement,  and  says  that  the  standard  kilogramme  is  "in  excess  of  its  theoretical  weight," 
According  to  his  computation,  the  difference  is  7.76247  grains. 


MEASURES    OF   CAPACITY.  177 

252.7452  grains  as  the  weight  of  the  cubic  inch  of  water  in  air 
at  39°.l  F.,  and  under  thirty  inches  of  barometric  pressure. 
This  value  is  identical  with  that  of  VAN  DER  TOORN,  given  by 
HASSLER,  in  his  report  of  1832,  as  "  the  English  determination," 
excepting  only  the  slight  difference  of  a  unit  in  the  fourth 
decimal  place.  The  coincidence  is  remarkable,  in  view  of  the 
widely  different  processes  by  which  the  two  have  been  reached. 
Dividing  the  weight  of  the  cubic  inch  of  humid  air  at  39°.l 
F.,  as  found  above,  by  the  weight  of  the  cubic  inch  of  water  at 
maximum  density,  we  shall  have,  as  the  specific  gravity  of  air 
under  these  circumstances,  0.001269582=  ?8?  b(.  It  is  this 
specific  gravity  which  ought  to  be  employed  in  the  corrections 
for  barometric  fluctuations  daring  the  adjustment  of  measures 
of  capacity,  in  case  the  weight  of  the  standard  cubic  inch  of 
water  according  to  which  their  capacities  are  computed,  has 
been  determined  on  supposition  that  the  air  as  well  as  the  water 
is  at  the  temperature  of  maximum  density  of  water  ;  and  that 
the  adjustments  are  made  in  an  atmosphere  of  the  same  tem 
perature.  On  this  supposition,  the  weight  252.7452  grains,  just 
found,  is  the  proper  standard  weight  of  the  cubic  inch  of  water  ; 
but  if  this  standard  weight  is  supposed  to  be  taken  with  water 
at  the  maximum  density  and  air  at  G2°  F.,  its  value  ought  to  be 
stated  at  252.7574  grains.  The  difference,  as  is  pointed  out  in 
the  preceding  note,  will  affect  the  weight  of  the  gallon  to  the 
extent  of  nearly  three  grains. 


APPENDIX  C. 


NOTE  ON  BEITISH  LEGISLATION  IN  KEGAED  TO 
THE  METKIC  SYSTEM. 

(REFERRED  TO  ON  PAGE    49.) 

The  history  of  British  legislation  in  regard  to  the  Metric 
System  of  Weights  and  Measures  having  been  but  imperfectly 
given  in  the  text  of  the  foregoing  address,  it  has  been  thought 
proper  to  append  the  following  succinct  account  of  it,  extracted 
from  a  paper  by  H.  W.  CHISHOLM,  Esq.,  Warden  of  the  Standards 
of  Great  Britain,  which  was  published  in  connection  with  the 
"  Second  Report  of  the  Standards  Commission,"  in  1869. 

Mr.  CHISHOLM  says  : 

"  The  last  evidence  which  I  shall  bring  before  the  Commission 
of  the  progress  of  public  opinion  in  this  country  as  to  the  intro 
duction  of  the  Metric  System,  is  that  of  the  proceedings  in  Par 
liament.  And  first,  as  to  the  Weights  and  Measures  Committee 
of  1862.  That  Committee  was  composed  of  members  who  formed 
opinions  entirely  favorable  to  the  introduction  of  the  Metric 
System,  and  the  terms  in  which  their  recommendations  are 
framed  in  their  report  deserve  particular  notice. 

"  They  '  arrived  at  a  unanimous  conclusion  that  the  best 
course  is  cautiously  but  steadily  to  introduce'  '  the  Metric  Sys 
tem  into  this  country,'  and  they  recommended — 

"  1.  That  the  use  of  the  Metric  System  be  rendered  legal.  No 
compulsory  measures  should  be  resorted  to  until  they  are  sanc 
tioned  by  the  general  conviction  of  the  public. 

"  2.  That  a  Department  of  Weights  and  Measures  be  estab 
lished  in  connection  with  the  Board  of  Trade.  It  would  thus  be- 


180  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

come  subordinate  to  the  Government  and  responsible  to  Parlia 
ment.  To  it  should  be  intrusted  the  conservation  and  verifica 
tion  of  the  standards,  the  superintendence  of  inspectors,  and  the 
general  duties  incident  to  such  a  department.  It  should  also 
take  such  measures  as  may  from  time  to  time  promote  the  use 
and  extend  the  knowledge  of  the  Metric  System  in  the  Depart 
ments  of  Government  and  among  the  people. 

"  3.  The  Government  should  sanction  the  use  of  the  Metric 
System  (together  with  our  present  one)  in  the  levying  of  the 
customs  duties,  thus  familiarizing  it  among  our  merchants  and 
manufacturers,  and  giving  facilities  to  foreign  traders  in  their 
dealings  with  this  country.  Its  use,  combined  with  that  of  our 
own  system  in  government  contracts,  has  also  been  suggested. 

"  4.  The  Metric  System  should  form  one  of  the  subjects  of 
examination  in  the  competitive  examination  of  the  Civil  Service. 

"  5.  The  gramme  should  be  used  as  a  weight  for  foreign  let 
ters  and  books  at  the  Post  Office. 

"  6.  The  Committee  of  Council  on  Education  should  require 
the  Metric  System  to  be  taught  (as  might  easily  be  done  by 
means  of  tables  and  diagrams)  in  all  schools  receiving  grants  of 
public  money. 

"  7.  In  the  public  statistics  of  the  country,  quantities  should 
be  expressed  in  terms  of  the  Metric  System,  in  juxtaposition  with 
those  of  our  own,  as  suggested  by  the  International  Statistical 
Congress. 

"  8.  In  private  bills  before  Parliament  the  use  of  the  Metric 
System  should  be  allowed. 

"  9.  The  only  weights   and   measures  in  use   should  be   the 
Metric  and  Imperial,  until  the  Metric  System  has  been  generally 
adopted. 
********* 

"  As  a  consequence  of  the  report  of  the  committee  of  1862,  a 
bill  to  introduce  the  Metric  System  was  introduced  in  the  fol 
lowing  session,  founded  on  their  recommendations  ;  but  it  also 


BRITISH    LEGISLATION    ON    METRIC    SYSTEM.          181 

contained  the  provision  that  it  should  be  made  compulsory  at 
the  expiration  of  a  period  to  be  fixed  by  the  bill.  A  period  of 
three  years  was  inserted  in  the  draft  of  the  bill,  although  it  was 
stated  by  its  promoters  that  a  longer  period  might  be  fixed,  as 
might  be  judged  expedient  or  necessary.  The  compulsory  pro 
vision  was  objected  to  by  the  Government  ;  but,  on  a  division, 
the  second  reading  was  carried  by  110  against  75  on  July  1st, 

1863.  The  lateness  of  the  session  prevented  the  bill  being  then 
proceeded  with;  but  it  was  re-introduced  in  1864  as  a  permis 
sive  bill  only.     The   second   reading  on   10th  March  was  not 
opposed  by  the  Government,  and  was  carried  on  a  division  by 
90  against   38.     In   committee    on   4th   May,  the   Government 
objected  to  the  provisions  for  legalizing  Metric  standards  and 
weights  and  measures,  there   being   no    arrangements  for  pro 
viding  them,  and  proposed  themselves  to  substitute  a  new  bill, 
rendering  the  Metric   System  permissive  in  this  country  so  far 
as  related  to  contracts.     This  proposal  was  acceded  to,  and  the 
bill  finally  passed  as  the  Metric  Act  of  1864,  though  not  until 
after  a  division  upon  the  second  reading  in  the  House  of  Lords 
on  21st  July,  of  34  against  23. 

"  In  1868,  another  bill  was  brought  in,  to  repeal  the  act  of 

1864,  and  introduce   the  Metric  System  compulsorily,   after  a 
period  to  be  fixed  in  the  bill,  which  period  was  left  to  be  inserted 
by  the  Government.      Upon  the  second  reading  of  the  bill,  on 
13th  May,  1868,  it  was  not  opposed  by  the  Government,  on  the 
understanding  that  they  did  not  object  to  its  principle,  but  that 
further  information  was  required  before  the  question  could  be 
properly  dealt  with,  and  was  then  being  obtained  by  the  Stand 
ards  Commission,  and  that  the  bill  should  not  be  proceeded  with 
until  the  report  of  the  commission  had  been  received.     This  un 
derstanding  was  assented  to  by  the  promoters  of  the  bill,  and 
the  bill  was  read  a  second  time  after  a  division  of  217  against  65. 

"  The  time  has  now  arrived  when  all  the  evidence  that  appears 
to  be  required  to  form  their  judgment  has  been  placed  before 


182  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

the  Standards  Commission,  and  when  the  whole  question  has 
become  ripe  for  their  opinion  to  be  given  upon  it.  Upon  full 
consideration  of  all  the  circumstances,  and  after  the  adoption  of 
the  Metric  System  by  so  many  other  countries,  and  the  influen 
tial  and  increasing  support  it  has  met  with  here,  I  am  myself 
led  to  the  irresistible  conviction  that  the  full  introduction  and 
legalization  of  the  Metric  System  in  the  United  Kingdom  can  no 
longer  be  delayed.  Considering  the  extent  and  importance  of 
our  commercial  and  scientific  intercourse  with  so  many  nations 
who  have  adopted  the  Metric  System  of  weights  and  measures, 
and  that  it  has  now  become  really  a  widely  extended  inter 
national  system,  it  appears  to  me  that  this  country  can  no  longer 
isolate  herself  from  other  countries  in  her  system  of  weights  and 
measures,  and  refuse  to  adopt  that  common  method  of  comput 
ing  the  quantities  of  all  merchandise  and  other  articles  passing 
between  them,  which  so  many  other  nations  have  already  ac 
cepted." 

The  views  here  expressed  by  Mr.  CHISHOLM  were  approved  by 
the  commission,*  who,  in  the  report  above  referred  to,  submitted 
the  following  among  their  recommendations  to  Parliament: 

"  (1.)  Considering  the  information  which  has  been  laid  before 
the  Commission — 

"  Of  the  great  increase  during  late  years  of  international  com 
munication,  especially  in  relation  to  trade  and  commerce; 

"Of  the  general  adoption  of  the  Metric  System  of  weights  and 
measures  in  many  countries,  both  in  Europe  and  other  parts  of 
the  world,  and  more  recently  in  the  North  German  Confedera 
tion  and  in  the  United  States  of  America; 

"  Of  the  progress  of  public  opinion  in  this  country  in  favor  of 
the  Metric  System  as  a  uniform  international  system  of  weights 
and  measures; 

*  The  commission  was  composed  as  follows  ; — GEORGE  BIDDELL  AIRY  (Astronomer  Royal), 
Chairman  ;  Loni  COLCHESTER  ;  Mr.  STEPHEX  CAVE  ;  Mr.  JOHN  GEORGE  SHAW  LEFEVRE  ;  General 
EDWARD  SABIXE  ;  Sir  THOMAS  GRAHAM  (Master  of  the  Mint);  Mr.  W.  H.  MILLER  (of  the  Bank  of 
England),  and  Mr.  H.  W.  CUISUOLM  (Warden  of  the  Standards). 


BRITISH    LEGISLATION    ON    METRIC    SYSTEM.  183 

"  And  of  the  increasing  use  of  the  Metric  System  in  scientific 
researches,  and  in  the  practice  of  accurate  chemistry  and  engi 
neering  construction; 

"  We  are  of  opinion  that  the  time  has  now  arrived  when  the 
law  should  provide,  and  facilities  be  afforded  by  the  Govern 
ment,  for  the  introduction  and  use  of  Metric  weights  and  meas 
ures  in  the  United  Kingdom. 
********* 

*  *  ******* 

"(2.)  Considering  the  advantage  of  adopting  in  an  inter 
national  system  not  only  of  uniform  weights  and  measures,  but 
also  uniform  names  ;  and  that  although  there  may  be  well 
founded  objections  to  the  inconvenient  length  and  occasional 
similarity,  both  to  the  eye  and  ear,  of  the  French  nomenclature, 
yet  it  is  probable  that  these  names  will  become  familiar  by 
custom,  and  obtain  popular  abbreviations  ; 

"  We  think  that  the  French  nomenclature,  as  well  as  decimal 
scale  of  the  Metric  System,  should  be  introduced  in  this  country. 

"  (3)   Considering— 

"That  there  is  no  immediate  cause,  requiring  a  general 
change  in  the  existing  system  of  legal  weights  and  measures  of 
the  country  for  the  purposes  of  internal  trade  ; 

"  That  the  statutable  values  of  the  fundamental  imperial  units 
are  adopted  in  use  without  the  slightest  variation  throughout 
the  whole  of  the  British  Isles  ; 

"  That  the  primary  Imperial  Standards  are  as  perfect  as  can 
be  made  by  modern  skill  and  science,  and  that  the  whole  series 
of  official  standards  are  now  most  accurately  verified  in  relation 
to  the  primary  standards. 
********* 

********* 

"  We  are  of  opinion  that  the  general  introduction  of  the  Metric 
System  should  be  permissive  only,  and  not  made  compulsory  by 
law  after  any  period  to  be  now  specified,  so  far  as  relates  to  the 


184  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

use  of  Metric  weights  and  measures  for  weighing  and  measuring 
goods  for  sale  or  conveyance.  *  *  * 

"  (5)  We  are  of  opinion  that  it  is  expedient  that  customs 
duties  should  be  allowed  to  be  levied  by  Metric  weight  and 
measure,  as  well  as  by  Imperial  weight  and  measure  ;  that  the 
use  of  the  Metric  System  concurrently  with  the  Imperial  System, 
should  be  adopted  by  other  public  departments,  especially  the 
Post  Office,  and  in  the  publication  of  the  principal  results  of  the 
Statistics  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  as  well  as  for  the  admeasure 
ment  and  registration  of  the  tonnage  of  shipping  ; 

"  (6)  And  that  mural  standards  of  the  Metric  System,  as  well 
as  of  the  Imperial  System,  be  exhibited  in  public  places. 

"  (7)   Considering— 

"  That  the  Metric  System,  as  adopted  in  other  countries,  in 
cludes  the  relation  of  coinage  to  weights  and  measures,  particu 
larly  in  its  uniform  decimal  scale  ; 

"  And  that  the  advantages  of  the  introduction  of  the  Metric 
System  into  this  country,  as  an  international  system  of  weights 
and  measures,  would  be  much  increased  by  establishing  a  cor 
responding  international  system  of  coinage,  in  regard  to  a  unit 
and  to  a  decimal  scale  ; 

"We  are  of  opinion  that,  even  if  the  difficulties  of  establishing 
an  international  unit  of  coinage  cannot  be  at  present  overcome, 
yet  the  decimalization  of  our  system  of  coinage,  which  is  in  the 
power  of  the  Government,  would  be  very  useful  to  the  public.3' 

These  very  judicious  recommendations  of  the  Standards  Com 
mission  are  believed  to  have  met  with  the  general  approval  of 
the  thinking  people  of  Great  Britain.  As  yet  however  the  na 
tional  legislature  has  not  taken  the  decisive  step  which  is  evi 
dently  inevitable  at  no  distant  day,  of  adopting  the  Metric  Sys 
tem  of  Weights  and  Measures  as  the  only  system  to  be  legally 
used  in  the  United  Kingdom.  During  the  recent  session  of 
Parliament  (1871),  a  bill  was  introduced  having  this  object  in 
view,  which,  being  opposed  by  the  ministry,  was  lost  on  a  very 


BRITISH    LEGISLATION    ON    METRIC    SYSTEM.  185 

close  division.  The  following  extracts  from  a  report  of  the 
debate  on  the  subject  in  the  House  of  Commons,  are  derived 
from  the  London  Guardian,  of  August  2,  1871: 

"  On  Wednesday  [July  26],  Mr.  J.  B.  SMITH  moved  the  second 
reading  of  his  bill  for  the  compulsory  introduction  of  the  metric 
or  decimal  system.  The  honorable  member,  after  dwelling  on 
the  curious  jumble  of  weights  and  measures  which  were  still  in 
vogue  amongst  us,  said  that  the  act  of  1864  was  so  badly  drawn 
by  the  Board  of  Trade  that  in  the  opinion  of  the  law  officers  the 
Metric  System  was  legal,  and  yet  that  if  metric  weights  and  meas 
ures  were  found  on  a  man's  premises  he  was  liable  to  prosecution. 
The  Metric  System  was  in  compulsory  use  amongst  200,000,000 
people,  and  in  permissive  use  amongst  200,000,000  more.  In 
fact,  sixty-six  per  cent,  of  our  exports  went  to  countries  using 
that  system ;  and  its  introduction  amongst  us  would  save  infinite 
trouble,  first,  in  education,  and  afterwards  in  the  operations  of 
commerce.  Moreover,  Sir  ROWLAND  HILL  had  further  stated  that 
we  were  losing  six  per  cent,  on  our  postage  with  France,  and 
seventeen  per  cent,  on  our  postage  with  Prussia,  in  consequence 
of  a  want  of  identity  in  weights  and  measures. 

"  The  bill  was  supported  by  forty-three  Associated  Chambers 
of  Commerce  and  Agriculture,  by  Farmers'  Clubs,  Workingmen's 
Associations,  and  many  scientific  bodies.  It  was  supported  by 
the  representatives  of  the  largest  constituencies  in  the  kingdom 
— Manchester,  Liverpool,  Glasgow,  LeedSj  Birmingham,  North 
Staffordshire,  South  Leicestershire,  and  South  Norfolk.  It  was 
opposed  by  the  member  for  Cambridge  University,  on  the 
ground  that  the  French  unit  was  not  a  proper  unit  ;  by  the 
Astronomer  Royal  and  Sir  J.  HERSCHEL.  For  the  Metric  Sys 
tem  however  they  had  the  authority  of  three  gentlemen  who 
possessed  the  most  extensive  scientific  knowledge,  combined  with 
the  greatest  business  knowledge  of  this  or  any  other  age — Sir 
WILLIAM  ARMSTRONG,  Sir  JOSEPH  WHITWORTH,  and  Sir  WILLIAM 
FAIRBAIRN. 


186  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

"  In  a  word,,  he  asked  for  what  the  English  barons  had  de 
manded  700  years  ago — namely,  that  there  should  be  one  weight 
und  one  measure  throughout  the  land,  but  he  asked  that  that 
weight  and  that  measure  should  be  identical  with  those  of  other 
nations,  so  that,  like  a  common  language,  there  should  be  but 
one  weight  and  one  measure  throughout  the  world." 

The  passage  of  the  bill  was  resisted  on  the  usual  grounds,  and 
on  some  that  are  unusual.  For  instance — 

"  Mr.  BEEESFORD  HOPE,  in  moving  the  rejection  of  the  bill,  said 
that,  while  he  was  in  favor  of  uniformity,  he  desired  to  have 
English  weights  and  measures,  and  not  French  ones.  The 
changes  proposed  by  Mr.  SMITH  would  overthrow  all  our  long- 
established  habits  and  customs — nay  our  very  proverbs  ;  for  no 
one  would  be  able  hereafter  to  talk  about  '  giving  an  inch  and 
taking  an  ell ' — (a  laugh) : — 

This  latter  argument  of  Mr.  BERESFORD  HOPE  is  rather  more 
witty  than  weighty,  but  it  is  less  true  than  either  :  for  though 
the  ell  (which  after  all  is  a  French  measure)  has  ceased  to  be 
used  in  England  for  a  century  or  two,  the  proverb  seems  to  be 
still  as  lively  as  ever.  As  for  stigmatizing  the  Metric  System  as 
French,  it  was  never  quite  just  to  do  so,  and  it  is  at  present 
altogether  absurd  ;  since  this  system  has  become  the  system  of 
more  than  half  the  civilized  world. 

"  The  rejection  of  the  bill  was  seconded  by  Mr.  STEVENSON,  and 
was  supported  by  Mr.  SCOURFIELD,  by  Alderman  LAWRENCE,  who 
pointed  out  that  the  adoption  of  the  litre  would  diminish  the 
poor  man's  pint  of  beer  without  any  proportionate  diminution 
of  price,  [a  surprisingly  knowing  alderman  this  must  have  been] 
and  by  Mr.  FOTHERGILL.  Mr.  HENLEY  pointed  out  the  incon 
venience  of  having  to  go  to  a  foreign  capital  for  standards  which 
might  at  any  moment  be  melted  down  in  a  general  conflagration 
of  the  city.  If  agriculturists  wanted  a  uniform  measure,  why  on 
earth  did  they  not  adopt  the  Imperial  bushel  ?" 

The  honorable  gentleman  proceeded,  ""When  the  Government 


BRITISH    LEGISLATION    ON    METRIC    SYSTEM.          187 

could  say  there  was  a  reasonable  certainty  that  all  other  nations 
would  adopt  the  same  uniform  system,  it  would  be  time  enough 
to  ask  our  people  to  bear  such  a  tax,  and  to  make  a  change 
which  would  create  great  internal  confusion.  [Let  us  suppose 
"  all  other  nations"  to  wait  in  like  manner  for  "  all  others" — what 
would  probably  be  the  rate  of  progress  ?]  They  knew  what  had 
happened  in  France;  how  Frenchmen  first  began  to  cut  off  their 
king's  head  [it  is  commonly  supposed  they  finished],  declared 
there  was  no  God,  set  up  a  social  evil  as  an  object  of  worship, 
and  cast  aside  all  the  ancient  provinces  and  limits  of  the  land. 
There  was  also  an  enormous  change  of  property,  almost  to  the 
extent  of  being  universal ;  and  when  that  was  done,  they  set 
about  measuring  the  world,  and  enforced  that  unit  which  people 
were  so  fond  of  throughout  France,  where  they  had  a  vast  num 
ber  of  different  measures  in  every  province.  He  would  be  glad 
to  hear  how  long  it  took,  with  all  the  despotism  they  had  in 
France,  before  the  old  system  of  weights  and  measures  was 
fairly  got  rid  of.  That  was  a  matter  upon  which  the  govern 
ment  ought  to  give  them  some  information."  [Here  is  a  gentle 
man  who  evidently  ought  to  read  the  reports  of  his  own  "  Stand 
ards  Commission."] 

"  The  bill  was  supported  by  Sir  C.  ADDERLEY,  by  Mr.  BAINES,  by 
Mr.  CLARE  READ  (who  said  he  had  bought  and  sold  in  Oxford 
shire,  Norfolk,  and  Pembrokeshire  by  different  weights  for 
different  articles  ;  and  in  Shropshire,  where  they  actually  had 
different  weights  for  different  market  days),  by  Mr.  PELL,  by 
Col.  STKES,  and  by  Mr.  ILLINGWORTH.  Mr.  CHICHESTER  FORTESCUE. 
the  President  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  said  that  this  was  the  first 
time  the  issue  had  been  really  raised  in  Parliament ;  for  the  pur 
port  of  the  measure  of  1864  was  much  misunderstood.  It  was 
true  that  it  bore  the  title  of  an  act  to  legalize  the  use  of  metric 
weights  and  measures  ;  but  all  it  did  was  to  render  contracts 
under  the  metric  system  legal,  which  they  were  not  before  ;  but 
it  by  no  means  legalized  the  use  of  those  weights  and  measures 
in  this  country.  *  *  *  In  his  opinion  the  general  feeling  of 


188  METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

this  country  was  not  at  present  such  as  would  justify  the  com 
pulsory  introduction  of  the  metric  system.  Under  all  the  cir 
cumstances  it  would  be  better  to  postpone  the  consideration  of 
the  matter,  and  leave  it  to  the  government  to  introduce  a  com 
plete  system  next  session."  [Here  was  a  quasi  promise  on  the 
part  of  the  ministry  to  favor  the  introduction  of  the  system  at  a 
later  day,  and  possibly  with  less  abruptness.  Perhaps  it  would 
have  been  better  to  accept  the  overture,  but  the  friends  of  the 
bill  thought  otherwise.] 

"  Mr.  EASTWICK  advised  Mr.  SMITH  to  accept  this  offer:  but  the 
honorable  member  insisted  on  a  division,  and  was  beaten  by 
eighty-two  to  seventy-seven." 

In  connection  with  the  foregoing  account  of  the  home  legis 
lation  of  Great  Britain,  the  following  statement,  derived  from 
a  little  volume  recently  published,  (June,  1871),  by  Professor 
LEONE  LEVI,  of  London,  Honorary  Secretary  of  the  Metric  Com 
mittee  of  the  British  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science, 
will  be  found  interesting  as  it  respects  the  simultaneous  move 
ment  of  public  opinion,  and  its  effect  upon  metrological  reform, 
in  British  India: 

"  The  necessity,"  says  Prof.  LEVI,  "  of  providing  for  uniformity 
of  weights  and  measures  in  India,  engaged  the  attention  of  the 
Indian  Government  frequently  since  1837.  On  the  13th  of  May, 
1863,  the  Government  of  Madras  suggested  the  importance  of 
steps  being  taken  to  reform  the  various  systems  of  weights  and 
measures,  and  on  the  20th  June,  1864,  a  resolution  was  passed 
by  the  Government  of  India,  recommending  the  appointment  of 
local  committees  in  each  Presidency,  to  deliberate  and  report  on 
the  whole  matter.  At  Madras  and  Bombay,  in  the  north-western 
provinces,  and  the  Punjaub,  the  committees  reported  in  favor  of 
a  scheme  based  upon  the  Imperial  system.  But  the  Bengal 
Government  proposed  the  gradual  but  finally  complete  adoption 
of  the  Metric  System,  which  recommendation  received  the  sup 
port  of  the  Bengal  Government.  On  the  1st  October,  1867, 
Colonel  STIIACHEY,  President  of  the  Central  Committee,  published 


BRITISH    LEGISLATION    ON    METRIC    SYSTEM.  189 

a  memorandum  in  support  of  the  proposal  of  the  Bengal  Com 
mittee,  and  included  in  it  a  draft  of  a  bill  on  the  subject.  The 
majority  of  his  colleagues  were,  however,  opposed  to  his  meas 
ure,  and  Colonel  STRACHEY  retired  from  the  Committee,  which 
afterwards  reported  against  the  adoption  of  the  Metric  System, 
and  recommended  the  scheme  based  on  the  Imperial.  At  about 
this  time  a  deputation  of  the  Metric  Committee  of  the  British 
Association  and  the  Council  of  the  International  Decimal 
Association,  waited  on  Sir  STAFFORD  NORTHCOTE,  urging  the 
superior  claims  of  the  Metric  System  for  India,  which  was  com 
municated  by  him  to  the  Indian  Government.  And  on  the  5th 
September,  1868,  a  decisive  Minute  was  made  by  the  Commander- 
in-Chief,  Sir  \V.  K.  MANSFIELD,  in  favor  of  the  Metric  System 
with  regard  to  weights.  Sir  JOHN  LAURENCE  approved  of  the 
Minute,  and  so  did  the  Hon.  Sir  R.  TEMPLE.  The  matter  was 
then  referred  by  the  Governor-General  in  Council  to  the  Duke 
of  Argyle,  Secretary  for  India,  who  consulted  the  Board  of  Trade 
on  the  subject.  The  approbation  of  the  Board  having  been  duly 
obtained,  an  act  was  passed  in  1870  to  regulate  the  weights  and 
measures  in  British  India.  The  act  constituted  the  primary 
standard  of  weight,  the  Ser,  of  the  same  weight  as  the  kilo 
gramme,  and  the  primary  standard  of  length,  the  metre ;  and  it 
empowered  the  Governor-General  in  Council  to  cause  such  new 
weights  and  measures  to  be  used  by  any  government  office  or 
municipal  body  or  railway  company;  and  to  require  that,  after 
a  date  to  be  fixed,  all  or  any  of  the  weights  and  measures  of 
capacity  aforesaid  shall  in  every  district  be  the  basis  of  the  deal 
ings  and  contracts  of  all  persons  engaged  in  any  specified  busi 
ness  or  trade.  It  also  provided  that  after  the  date  fixed  in  any 
such  notification,  all  dealings,  or  contracts  made  by  the  officers, 
bodies,  companies,  or  persons  so  mentioned,  for  any  work  done 
or  goods  sold  by  weight  or  measure,  shall,  in  the  absence  of  a 
special  agreement  to  the  contrary,  be  deemed  to  be  had  or  made, 
according  to  the  weights  and  measures  directed  in  such  notifi 
cation  to  be  used. 


APPENDIX  D. 


NOTE  ON  THE  EXTENT  TO  WHICH  THE  METEIC 
SYSTEM  HAS  BEEN  ALBEADY  ADOPTED. 

(REFERRED  TO  ON  PAGE   51.) 

The  statements  of  the  foregoing  address  as  to  the  populations 
among  whom  the  metric  system  has  been  wholly  or  partially 
legalized,  though  made  upon  less  full  information  than  has  since 
been  collected,  have  been  generally  allowed  to  stand  as  they  were 
originally  written.  The  object  of  this  note  is  to  present  a  more 
complete  view  of  the  facts,  (so  far  as  ascertained  up  to  December, 
1871,)  than  could  be  introduced  into  tfre  body  of  the  address, 
without  too  largely  changing  its  form.  In  the  following  tables 
are  embraced,  by  classes,  all  the  nations  whose  legislation  is 
known  to  have  favored  this  system  ;  distinction  being  made 
between  those  which  have  adopted  the  system  in  full ;  those 
which  have  established  simple  relations  of  commensurability 
between  it  and  their  own;  those  which,  still  retaining  their  own 
unit  bases,  have  adopted  metric  ratios  for  the  derivative  de 
nominations  ;  and,  finally,  those  which  have  made  the  use  of  the 
system  optional  but  not  compulsory. 

I. — Peoples  adopting  the  Metric  System  in  full. 


STATE. 

YEAR. 

POPULATION. 

France  

1866 

38  067  064 

French  Colonies  .  

1866 

2  921  000 

Holland  

1868 

3  638  467 

Dutch  Colonies  

1868 

22  453  000 

Belgium  

1866 

4  83Q  OQ-l 

Spain  .  . 

1868 

16.842.000 

192 


METRIC    SYSTEM APPENDIX. 

TABLE  I. — Continued. 


STATE. 

YEAR. 

POPULATION. 

Spanish  Colonies   ...              

1868 

2,030,000 

Portusral  . 

1863 

4,349,000 

Italy  . 

1868 

25  527  000 

North  German  Confederation  

1867 

29  910  517 

Greece  

1864 

1,348  522 

Roumania  

1867 

4,605,000 

British  India  

1866 

150  767  851 

Mexico  

1865 

8  218  080 

New  Granada 

2  800  000 

Ecuador  

1858 

1  040  000 

Peru  

3  374,000 

Brazil  ... 

1867 

9  858  000 

Urucfuav  .  . 

387  000 

Argentine  Confederation  

1869 

1,736  000 

Chili  „  

1868 

1  908  000 

Total.. 

336,419,595 

II. — Peoples  adopting  Metric  Values. 


STATE  . 

YEAR. 

POPULATION. 

AVurtemberg   ...        .  .  , 

1867 

1,778,396 

Bavaria  

1867 

4,824,000 

Baden  

1867 

1,438,000 

Hesse  ....        ..    . 

1852 

854,319 

Switzerland  

1860 

2,510,494 

Denmark  

1850 

2,413,000 

1867 

34,861  000 

Turkey.  . 

35  360  000 

Total  

84,039,209 

III. — Countries  in  which  the  Metric  System  is  permissive. 


STATE. 

YEAR. 

POPULATION. 

Great  Britain        

1871 

31,817,108 

1870 

38,555,983 

Total     

70,373,091 

METRIC    POPULATION.  193 

IV.— In  Sweden  (population  (1867)  4,195,681)  and  Norway 
(1867)  1,701,478,  total— 5,897,159)  the  decimal  division  has 
been  adopted  without  as  yet  the  metric  values. 

As  the  peoples  in  the  second  class  above  may  be  regarded  as 
committed  to  the  ultimate  adoption  of  the  metric  system  in  full, 
we  may  count,  as  already  enlisted  on  this  side  of  the  question,  a 
total  of  about  420,000,000. 


CORRECTION. — The  statement,  on  page  one  hundred  and  seventy,  that  the 
Third  Report  (made  in  1821)  of  the  British  Standards  Commission  of  1818, 
gives,  as  the  weight  in  vacua  of  the  cubic  inch  of  water  at  62°  F.,  252.724 
grains,  while  the  Appendix  to  the  Report  referred  to  as  authority,  gives 
252.722,  is  erroneous  as  it  respects  the  first  of  these  numbers.  The  Report 
(British  Parliamentary  Papers,  1821,  Vol.  IV.),  gives  252.72 ;  differing  from 
the  Appendix  only  in  the  omission  of  the  third  decimal  figure. 

The  error  was  made  in  consequence  of  depending  on  an  extract  from  the 
Report  (which  purports  to  be  literal)  given  by  Dr.  YOUNG  in  his  article  on 
"Weights  and  Measures,  in  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica  ;  in  which  the  weight 
in  question  is  stated  at  252.724  grs.,  although  the  Appendix,  which  is  quoted 
entire  in  the  same  article,  gives  as  above  252.722  grs. 

The  bill,  founded  on  this  and  the  preceding  reports,  which  was  introduced 
into  Parliament  in  1822,  but  not  passed,  adopted  the  number  of  the  Report 
above,  viz.,  252.72  grs.  The  bill  introduced  in  the  following  year,  which  was 
finally,  with  some  slight  modification,  passed  June  17,  1824,  but  not  carried 
into  operation  until  January  1,  1826,  assumed  the  weight  in  question  to  be 
252.724  grs. — the  same  number  which  Dr.  YOUNG  has  erroneously  introduced 
into  the  extract  from  the  Report  quoted  by  him.  The  act  fixed  the  capacity 
of  the  imperial  gallon  by  requiring  that  this  measure  should  contain  seventy 
thousand  grains  of  distilled  water  of  the  temperature  of  62°  F.,  weighed  by 
brass  weights  under  the  barometric  pressure  of  thirty  inches,  and  stating  at 
the  same  time  the  capacity  thus  determined  to  be  277.274  cubic  inches.  From 
these  data  we  infer  the  weight  of  the  single  cubic  inch  of  water  in  the  air, 
under  the  prescribed  conditions  of  temperature  and  pressure,  to  have  been  sup 
posed  to  amount  to  252.458  grains ;  since  252.458  X  277.274  =  70,000.039492, 
exceeding  the  prescribed  weight  of  the  gallon  of  water  by  less  than  four  one- 
hundredths  of  a  grain. 

In  the  bill  of  1822,  the  capacity  of  the  gallon  was  fixed  at  277.276  cubic 
inches ;  corresponding  to  the  weight  of  the  cubic  inch  of  water  in  air  (under 
the  conditions  specified)  as  given  in  the  Appendix  to  the  Report,  viz.,  252.456 
grs.  Thus  277.276  X  252.456  =  69,999.989856  grains;  which  is  less  than 
70,000  by  the  insignificant  fraction  0.010144.  Before  the  final  passage  in  1824, 


194:  METRIC    SYSTEM — APPENDIX. 

of  the  bill  of  1823,  the  weight  in  vacuo  was  thrown  out,  and  the  weight  in  the 
air  substituted ;  and  it  was  then  explicitly  declared  to  have  been  "  ascertained 
by  the  Commissioners  appointed  by  his  Majesty,  &c.,  that  a  cubic  inch  of  dis 
tilled  water,  weighed  in  air  by  brass  weights,  at  the  temperature  of  sixty-two 
degrees  of  FAHRENHEIT'S  thermometer,  the  barometer  being  at  thirty  inches, 
is  equal  to  two  hundred  and  fifty-two  grains,  and  four  hundred  and  fifty-eight 
thousandth  parts  of  a  grain,  of  which  as  aforesaid  the  imperial  standard  Troy 
pound  contains  five  thousand  seven  hundred  and  sixty." 

Dr.  YOUNG  makes  this  explanatory  remark : — "  The  slight  discordance  of 
the  numbers  of  the  successive  years  depends  merely  upon  the  adoption  of  a 
standard  Troy  pound  better  authenticated  than  the  two  pound  weight  par 
ticularly  employed  by  Sir  GEORGE  SHUCKBURGII,  which  [former]  was  finally 
preferred,  both  as  representing  a  unit,  and  as  being  more  simple  in  its  form 
than  the  two  pound  weight." 

Notwithstanding  this,  the  British  authorities,  both  governmental  and  scien 
tific,  constantly  cite  the  original  value  assigned  by  KATEII  for  the  weight  in 
vaciw  at  62°  F.  of  the  cubic  inch  of  water  (viz.  252.722  grains) ;  while  they 
nevertheless  adopt  the  corrected  weight  of  the  act  of  Parliament  of  1824,  for 
the  weight  of  air  (viz.  252.458  grs.,  deduced  from  the  corrected  weight  in  vacuo 
above  given,  viz.  252.724  grs.),  thousrh  the  two  are  inconsistent  with  each 
other.  Thus,  in  the  Sixth  Appendix  to  the  Second  Report  (made  in  1869)  of 
the  British  Standards  Commission  of  1868,  Mr.  H.  "W.  CriiSHOLM,  Warden  of 
the  Standards,  says  that  "  the  legal  weight  in  a  vacuum  of  a  cubic  inch  of 
water  at  62°  F.,  authoritatively  and  scientifically  determined  by  SHUCKBURGH 
and  KATER,  is  252.722  grains."  But  he  gives  also,  at  the  same  time,  the  legal 
weight  of  the  cubic  inch  of  water  in  the  air,  under  the  conditions  specified  in 
the  statute,  precisely  as  given  in  the  statute  itself,  as  of  course  he  was  bound 
to  do ;  though  this  is  not  the  value  given  by  SHUCKBURGII  and  KATER,  nor 
is  it  deducible  from  their  value  for  the  vacuum,  given  by  Mr.  CHISIIOLM  as 
the  proper  one,  immediately  before. 


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